Our info really is being sold/passed around or whatever.

[Patient]

We have all read about companies selling our personal info, but have any of you actually experienced anything that would confirm that?

I have and I was really surprised, but at least is has not cost me any money or anything bad at this point.

About a week before Christmas day, I received a bill (in the mail) from a cable company that I have never had an account with ever! The bill showed that I did not owe them any money, but it had all of my information they would need to send me a bill or have me as a client.

I have not contacted them yet, but I am very curious if I will receive another bill this month.

Strange that the system would send me a bill of "zero" in the first place. If I was a client and my balance was zero, then sure, but not being a client?

If you do not yet think that A.I. is going to be a problem, I think you will be in for a surprise. :)

[Flash]

We have all read about companies selling our personal info, but have any of you actually experienced anything that would confirm that?

I have and I was really surprised, but at least is has not cost me any money or anything bad at this point.

About a week before Christmas day, I received a bill (in the mail) from a cable company that I have never had an account with ever! The bill showed that I did not owe them any money, but it had all of my information they would need to send me a bill or have me as a client.

I have not contacted them yet, but I am very curious if I will receive another bill this month.

Strange that the system would send me a bill of "zero" in the first place. If I was a client and my balance was zero, then sure, but not being a client?

If you do not yet think that A.I. is going to be a problem, I think you will be in for a surprise. :)

if you received a bill, you are listed as a client, even if it is at zero $. Or it is a mailed scam. Either way, call the cable company to either cancel your subscription or report the scam.

Our info is stolen, then sold on the web when it is fraudulent. You would not imagine how many e-mail I received asking me to pay some accounts I do not have, to correct some information on banks accounts, etc etc.

When it is not fraudulent, like Facebook or Twitter, they do sell our information too for marketing purpose. Some of the cie they sell to are more or less honest, but other will resell it to the biggest bidder.

There is no privacy anymore, none whatsoever.

Add to this the employees of firms like telephone, cellular phones, electricity, etc who have access to your information. Some of them will steal it as well and resell it on the market.

Then there is the hackers, who are the pro in stealing anything on the web.

[Valerie Villars]

Patient, they sent that to you based on your "credit".

I worked in finance for years. They have all your information and are basically luring you with "a line of credit" so that you can become permanently indebted to them. It's a very insidious way of them trapping you in their system.

Just ignore it. Tear it up and throw it into the trash.

[ripple]

Follow my type of regime and it really does not matter what 'they' do .Ever .
I pay for everything that is ongoing through Direct Debit on - line banking and all ad hoc business is paid in cash immediately .
Therefore , any bill I receive from anybody else is garbage by definition and ignored 100% .Such letters and E- mails never even get read . Deleted / Binned .
I have no use for information collection sites like all so called social platforms. So I never use them .
I never answer my phone by name and clear unwanted calls within seconds using a variety of absurd covers including my own recent death .
As a result I now go months without ever being pestered by even a single unwanted person or company .
I imagine I am on a list of special people who are described as impossible to deal with . In a silly mood , I swear in a disgusting way and have frightened and shamed myself on many occasions .

[CurEus]

was sent a credit card last week...........asked me call in an "activate" the account.

[happyuk]

Patient, they sent that to you based on your "credit".

I worked in finance for years. They have all your information and are basically luring you with "a line of credit" so that you can become permanently indebted to them. It's a very insidious way of them trapping you in their system.

Just ignore it. Tear it up and throw it into the trash.

Better still, tear it up and return it in the prepaid envelope.

[petra]

We have all read about companies selling our personal info, but have any of you actually experienced anything that would confirm that?


I've witnessed it but never actually been involved. The "value" aspect is what boggles my mind.

What's all of this data even worth?! Quite a bit apparently...

Many years ago I had a low-level job with a company where I had access to over a million user accounts data, and I could have stolen all that data at any time. They didn't ask me for references either, I got hired because my friend worked there.

Here's a website which can be used to see if any of the major sites you've signed up to have had a reported hack/breach. This also reveals a bit too much data imo, because you can lookup your friend's email to see if they've been "pwned" also (and in turn see some of the possibly questionable websites they have signed up to in the past)

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

Want to just review some websites which have been breached? You can do that here.

https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites
(https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites)

[conk]

[QUOTE=Valerie Villars;1267318]Patient, they sent that to you based on your "credit".

I worked in finance for years. They have all your information and are basically luring you with "a line of credit" so that you can become permanently indebted to them. It's a very insidious way of them trapping you in their system.

Just ignore it. Tear it up and throw it into the trash.

We used to take the prepaid envelope and tape it to a box of bricks or at a minimum stuff the envelope with as much stupid crap as we could. No way to know if the heavy boxes ever made it through the mail, but I'm guessing the plain, stuffed envelopes did.

I've altered the spelling of my name or used a variation of my four names, then use them in a particular manner. Then I wait to see how that variation comes back to me and from whom. But that backfired on me, as I get tons of junk mail for each of the bogus names.

We've noticed some peculiar things with advertising. It seems that even a conversation about a product will result in an ad for that item on the pages I visit soon after. Who and how are they listening in?

[Flash]

[QUOTE=Valerie Villars;1267318]Patient, they sent that to you based on your "credit".

I worked in finance for years. They have all your information and are basically luring you with "a line of credit" so that you can become permanently indebted to them. It's a very insidious way of them trapping you in their system.

Just ignore it. Tear it up and throw it into the trash.

We used to take the prepaid envelope and tape it to a box of bricks or at a minimum stuff the envelope with as much stupid crap as we could. No way to know if the heavy boxes ever made it through the mail, but I'm guessing the plain, stuffed envelopes did.

I've altered the spelling of my name or used a variation of my four names, then use them in a particular manner. Then I wait to see how that variation comes back to me and from whom. But that backfired on me, as I get tons of junk mail for each of the bogus names.

We've noticed some peculiar things with advertising. It seems that even a conversation about a produou ct will result in an ad for that item on the pages I visit soon after. Who and how are they listening in?

You bet and sorry Val, this ain't based on your credit status.

[conk]

[QUOTE=Valerie Villars;1267318]Patient, they sent that to you based on your "credit".

I worked in finance for years. They have all your information and are basically luring you with "a line of credit" so that you can become permanently indebted to them. It's a very insidious way of them trapping you in their system.

Just ignore it. Tear it up and throw it into the trash.

We used to take the prepaid envelope and tape it to a box of bricks or at a minimum stuff the envelope with as much stupid crap as we could. No way to know if the heavy boxes ever made it through the mail, but I'm guessing the plain, stuffed envelopes did.

I've altered the spelling of my name or used a variation of my four names, then use them in a particular manner. Then I wait to see how that variation comes back to me and from whom. But that backfired on me, as I get tons of junk mail for each of the bogus names.

We've noticed some peculiar things with advertising. It seems that even a conversation about a produou ct will result in an ad for that item on the pages I visit soon after. Who and how are they listening in?

You bet and sorry Val, this ain't based on your credit status.

Exactly, they don't know anything about us. Ask them a few simple questions and listen to them stutter and stammer. One fellow called me and said my car was out of warranty, trying to sell me an extended warranty. I told him sure, I was interested, but could he tell me which of my 5 cars he was referring to. .....crickets chirping.....His recovery was pitiful. Caught in his lie.