Earlier today I got back from visiting the local Capital One bank. Yesterday, I had received an account opening statement from them which had the correct address, but wrong addressee. I took a look inside to find that it was an account that had been opened in someone else's name and SSN but the account opener used my address. It was dated a day or two after the theft.
After checking with some people, I found that the SSN and birth date did not belong to them. So, off to the Capital One location I went.
I talked with the bank people and they thanked me for bringing it to their attention. While I was there, the person talked with the fraud people and they said that there were over 100 accounts opened online recently. I gave him my name and SSN for them to place on a fraud alert watch so if the person tries to open an account with my info, it will not go through. I also put a fraud alert on my own bank account at another bank.
I don't think I'd have gotten this far had I used the relay. It was worth the gas and time to get there, a 35 mile round trip.
One thing of interest. It is a classic scheme to send things like this not to the person the information belongs to, but elsewhere in the same city, somewhere in the same state or another state. Then when nothing happens after a period of time, the person may then start using and abusing it.
So again, everyone, safeguard your personal information.
Showing posts with label NTID. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NTID. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
NTID Reunion Recap
What a time at the reunion. I didn't want to leave, but I had to. Whoever plans them, keep doing so. They keep getting better every year. I'm hoping future gas prices will stabilize or at least be lower than how they were at the time, hovering around $4.15 a gallon. Where the artwork was, they had a slideshow of previous SVP events, with me being in one of them with my face covered with the result of a pie eating contest.
What tempered the reunion a bit was going without two old friends, James Sharer and Harold Tritt, both who died within 6 months of each other. That plus finding another old friend I couldn't find, had died also, Barbara Fallon. Steve Baier, James and Janet Byrne, Jamie Berke, and I attended Harold's funeral and burial. The art room also had a listing of those alumni who passed away.
The stage shows were pretty good. Our final time in the Panara theatre had a few surprises, with Robert Panara showing up as well as the staff tossing two cases of disposable film cameras out to the audience and Dr. Robert Davila briefly talking. We had CJ Jones and John Maucere bringing down the house. I had seen The Wrong Game for the second time, and they also showed a preview of the Dummy Hoy movie, "Signs of the Time" with the production staff answering questions.
The food was good, with the best time being Friday under the tent with a rather yummy ribs dinner with some other things. The weather pretty much cooperated, with it being sunny, and it did rain some.
Right before Jamie and I were to head to the airport, we found she had gotten a message on her SK saying Delta had cancelled our flight from Rochester to JFK airport. After a quick call, I managed to get our flight rescheduled from Rochester to Cincinnati, then to National Airport and still had a bit of time to kill at LBJ with someone.
Like I said, in all, it was a good time out there. I had to use my wheelchair what with all the standing around everyone was doing, though I parked and folded it in the wheelchair area in the theatre and moved to my seat. Sometimes it's better to join the audience...
What tempered the reunion a bit was going without two old friends, James Sharer and Harold Tritt, both who died within 6 months of each other. That plus finding another old friend I couldn't find, had died also, Barbara Fallon. Steve Baier, James and Janet Byrne, Jamie Berke, and I attended Harold's funeral and burial. The art room also had a listing of those alumni who passed away.
The stage shows were pretty good. Our final time in the Panara theatre had a few surprises, with Robert Panara showing up as well as the staff tossing two cases of disposable film cameras out to the audience and Dr. Robert Davila briefly talking. We had CJ Jones and John Maucere bringing down the house. I had seen The Wrong Game for the second time, and they also showed a preview of the Dummy Hoy movie, "Signs of the Time" with the production staff answering questions.
The food was good, with the best time being Friday under the tent with a rather yummy ribs dinner with some other things. The weather pretty much cooperated, with it being sunny, and it did rain some.
Right before Jamie and I were to head to the airport, we found she had gotten a message on her SK saying Delta had cancelled our flight from Rochester to JFK airport. After a quick call, I managed to get our flight rescheduled from Rochester to Cincinnati, then to National Airport and still had a bit of time to kill at LBJ with someone.
Like I said, in all, it was a good time out there. I had to use my wheelchair what with all the standing around everyone was doing, though I parked and folded it in the wheelchair area in the theatre and moved to my seat. Sometimes it's better to join the audience...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Growing up Deaf - Part 16
Attending College - Part 3
I was most likely one of the few deaf people at NTID who didn't have a TTY. My family didn't need it, as I could use voice on the phone and I had hearing aids on. I was able to keep using voice on the phone for a little time til shortly after graduation, then gave up trying as amplified phones were too expensive. I tried a couple things from Radio Shack, but they didn't always help. Speakerphones did nicely for me. Later, I quit trying to use the phone and had a hearing person help out til the relay came along. That meant dialing an 800 number. Cheers of joy were most likely heard when we could use the relay via instant messaging and the web.
Paintball was introduced to me, and I found it to be a rather fun game to play on some weekends. Sure, I had my share of hitting the other team, including being shot in a few spectacular or interesting ways. Another friend was on the other team, and I somehow came across him maybe 100 feet away in the thin trees and despite all our shooting at each other, we never hit each other though his ball bounced off me. My gun jammed halfway through our shooting match when a paintball broke inside. I ran down the hill to a path and I came across the judge who told me that it was the end of the game. Another game I hid behind a dirt 'wall' and kept shooting at this other person, but he managed to nail me first with the paintball bruising the side of my neck before breaking on my arm.
One particular game had us get close up to each other and I was on my stomach on the ground shooting the other team. I was hit, but even after putting my head down quickly after taking a second shot, they were still shooting at me and it took a judge to get them to stop.
Years later, I attended a community college in northern VA, going into their network security program. I was required to take an elective in english or theatre. You can guess what I chose. The class had 3-4 other course sections within, all of whom were studying various aspects of stage. We decided to do Macbeth. Another person and I did some of the lighting and other stage setups. We captioned two of the performances, something the instructor wanted to do. This will be the subject of another blog post, an update of my Poor Man's Captioning (or Subtitling) Device located on About.com.
I graduated in 2005 with honors. The ceremony was at George Mason University. Halfway through the ceremony, the noise started drowning out the master of ceremonies.
Next - Extracurricular/outside of school.
I was most likely one of the few deaf people at NTID who didn't have a TTY. My family didn't need it, as I could use voice on the phone and I had hearing aids on. I was able to keep using voice on the phone for a little time til shortly after graduation, then gave up trying as amplified phones were too expensive. I tried a couple things from Radio Shack, but they didn't always help. Speakerphones did nicely for me. Later, I quit trying to use the phone and had a hearing person help out til the relay came along. That meant dialing an 800 number. Cheers of joy were most likely heard when we could use the relay via instant messaging and the web.
Paintball was introduced to me, and I found it to be a rather fun game to play on some weekends. Sure, I had my share of hitting the other team, including being shot in a few spectacular or interesting ways. Another friend was on the other team, and I somehow came across him maybe 100 feet away in the thin trees and despite all our shooting at each other, we never hit each other though his ball bounced off me. My gun jammed halfway through our shooting match when a paintball broke inside. I ran down the hill to a path and I came across the judge who told me that it was the end of the game. Another game I hid behind a dirt 'wall' and kept shooting at this other person, but he managed to nail me first with the paintball bruising the side of my neck before breaking on my arm.
One particular game had us get close up to each other and I was on my stomach on the ground shooting the other team. I was hit, but even after putting my head down quickly after taking a second shot, they were still shooting at me and it took a judge to get them to stop.
Years later, I attended a community college in northern VA, going into their network security program. I was required to take an elective in english or theatre. You can guess what I chose. The class had 3-4 other course sections within, all of whom were studying various aspects of stage. We decided to do Macbeth. Another person and I did some of the lighting and other stage setups. We captioned two of the performances, something the instructor wanted to do. This will be the subject of another blog post, an update of my Poor Man's Captioning (or Subtitling) Device located on About.com.
I graduated in 2005 with honors. The ceremony was at George Mason University. Halfway through the ceremony, the noise started drowning out the master of ceremonies.
Next - Extracurricular/outside of school.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Growing up Deaf - Part 14
Attending College
I was accepted by NTID and I went into SVP 1983 (Summer Vestibule Program). It marked the first time I was going to be on my own in the dorms on campus away from home. That plus I was finally with other deaf people, more time spent with them than other times combined. This is where I was finally able to make and keep friends for much longer than my previous school years. I have at times found some from way back then. I knew no one at NTID when I first started there. Thus, like in previous years after a move, I started all over again in finding and making friends.
I was in Peterson Hall on the third floor all during SVP. It was during this time someone tossed a military smoke bomb on the opposite side of the fire door of where I was. Everyone on that side thought it was a fire and didn't leave their rooms, though there were a couple who did. It wasn't til much later when we found out more about the smoke bomb, which burned a crater in the carpeting and the floor. I still have the picture somewhere. They didn't get the person til about a year or two later.
My first year, I tried going into Computer Science, but had so much trouble with it, that after the third quarter, I went to NTID's Data Processing major. I was in the first floor of Bell Hall, which is now a childcare center. My roommate joined a fraternity and moved out, leaving me as the lone occupant in the spring quarter. I found later that it wasn't just me who had problems with RIT's course pace. I did pretty well in the Data Processing program. I even had accounting again, made easier by my having taken it in high school and was a tutor to some at times.
I had the same room on 10th floor Ellingson Hall for three years straight. Few people were able to do this, though I heard about a couple people who had the same room for four years. That may have been a rumor.
It was this time when I started socializing with other deaf more than in previous years. My signing skills greatly improved within the first year, and improved even more the next. I also managed to run a BBS (bulletin board system) on my computer in the dorms on the weekdays. This allowed me to meet other friends in the Rochester area, a few of whom I still keep contact with. I was also able to get out into the city now and then using the local bus service to go to the mall, a local Wegmans, the downtown area, and a few other places.
Next - College part 2.
I was accepted by NTID and I went into SVP 1983 (Summer Vestibule Program). It marked the first time I was going to be on my own in the dorms on campus away from home. That plus I was finally with other deaf people, more time spent with them than other times combined. This is where I was finally able to make and keep friends for much longer than my previous school years. I have at times found some from way back then. I knew no one at NTID when I first started there. Thus, like in previous years after a move, I started all over again in finding and making friends.
I was in Peterson Hall on the third floor all during SVP. It was during this time someone tossed a military smoke bomb on the opposite side of the fire door of where I was. Everyone on that side thought it was a fire and didn't leave their rooms, though there were a couple who did. It wasn't til much later when we found out more about the smoke bomb, which burned a crater in the carpeting and the floor. I still have the picture somewhere. They didn't get the person til about a year or two later.
My first year, I tried going into Computer Science, but had so much trouble with it, that after the third quarter, I went to NTID's Data Processing major. I was in the first floor of Bell Hall, which is now a childcare center. My roommate joined a fraternity and moved out, leaving me as the lone occupant in the spring quarter. I found later that it wasn't just me who had problems with RIT's course pace. I did pretty well in the Data Processing program. I even had accounting again, made easier by my having taken it in high school and was a tutor to some at times.
I had the same room on 10th floor Ellingson Hall for three years straight. Few people were able to do this, though I heard about a couple people who had the same room for four years. That may have been a rumor.
It was this time when I started socializing with other deaf more than in previous years. My signing skills greatly improved within the first year, and improved even more the next. I also managed to run a BBS (bulletin board system) on my computer in the dorms on the weekdays. This allowed me to meet other friends in the Rochester area, a few of whom I still keep contact with. I was also able to get out into the city now and then using the local bus service to go to the mall, a local Wegmans, the downtown area, and a few other places.
Next - College part 2.
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