As if being awaken by multiple phone calls at around 3am on a cold Friday morning was not enough, I realized the next morning that the phone calls were from my relatives in Hong Kong informing my family that I have been a victim of identity theft.

Apparently, my grandma who currently resides in Hong Kong have been receiving multiple phone calls from a man pretending to be me. He was even able to mention my Chinese name. The phone calls started as a demand for my grandma to transfer $60,000 HKD (approx $7,700 USD) into his bank account. Later, the man on the phone threatened my grandma that he will break her legs if she refuses to transfer the money.

Fortunately, the plan failed and those 3am long distance phone calls were able to prove my innocence since I was fast asleep at that time. It was suspected that the culprit must have picked up a Christmas card sent by us during previous years which she must have thrown away recently. A quick glance at the envelope would suggest that my family was from oversea and a glance at the content would give away the names of my family members. Also, checking the 411 directory on the Internet would be able to return a phone number matching the house address indicated on the envelope.

I never would have imagined that such an event would have happened to me, but it made me realize the importance of protecting our personal information as well as our intellectual property. Also, it made me realize just how much of an impact the economic depression currently has on the entire international market.

Oct 18th by admin