Was scammed to years ago - now the scammer uses my identity

Hello, Scamwarners,

Two years ago, I experienced a scam when I was looking for an apartment in Switzerland. I sent a copy of my passport to the scammer and about 1.500 USD via an international bank transfer. After the incident, I posted about my experience at Scamwarners (but under a different user name than my current) and otherwise, I didn't do much.

During the past couple of weeks, I've been contacted at LInkedIn by two people telling me about a scam that uses my identity and the copy of my passport that I sent the scammer two years ago.

I want to post my name somewhere to let everyone googling my name know that I have been the victim of a scam. Please could you advise me on how to proceed in this matter? Is posting my name online in different forums the best way forward? I have already contacted the police in my country, but they say they can't do anything about it and that I should let my network know about my experience.

I really appreciate your reply as I am deeply frustrated about this person using my identity to trick people into paying deposits to fake bank accounts for fake accomodation around the world.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Best regards,

Ivan Hoe.

Contact the issuing authorities and tell them your information has been compromised. They will likely be able to report your old ID / Passport cards as stolen or lost and issue you new ones, with different #'s on them.


You need to learn your rights. This site is from the USA, https://www.privacyrights.org/
a link to other countries in the world if you live elsewhere. http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2004/0 ... -job-scam/

Perhaps somebody is using my name, too. I don't know. The scammer will only use your name for a while then change to another. Nothing you can do. Don't worry, be happy. Pour yourself some wine, relax in the hot tub.

Definitely do address your ID as best possible. In addition, though, your idea is a very good one and I would recommend pursuing it. As Mumbles said, scammers do move from one name to the next. When they have matching ID, though, they tend to stick with a particular identity longer, and you want to cut that short if possible.

In a situation such as this one, in addition to Hillbilly's advice, I do recommend posting your name and anything else the scammer is using (just don't post your ID, current phone number, or personal email address.) Also post any info on their current scams that you have been given by the people who contacted you. This way, google will pick them up so that potential victims find it in a search.

Doing this will not only help victims to avoid the scam, but it will also increase the likelihood that the scammers will not continue to use your information. Usually, when the scammers realize that the use of a particular name is tipping off victims and preventing them from getting money , they will drop that particular fake identity and move on to something else.

Thanks a lot for your quick replies!

Just to be sure - you advice me to post about the experience online and disclosing my name, but not my personal contact details. Would it be a good idea for instance to post online IN MY FACEBOOK NAME and publicly visibly in my LINKEDIN PROFILE that I have been scammed so everyone googline me will get this information? My email address is, however, is publicly available on my LinkedIn profile.

Thanks a lot for your help. Much appreciated.

Best,

IH.