Lynda True: Trying to recover from identity theft has been a nightmare

To The Daily Sun,

Yes, it can happen to you. This is a warning to anyone using a local bank.

When I received notice that someone had made large purchases on my PayPal account, which I had not been using, I called PayPal and then my bank’s fraud department. Or so I thought.

My debit card has a number printed on the back of it to use to report fraud. And that is where my nightmare began. I used it and found it to be a portal straight to hell.

To make a weeklong story short, my identity was stolen by hackers who commandeered the bank’s fraud number, logos and all, and stole my money and financial information.

They wiped out my accounts, stole my social security number, and tried to go after my IRA, working, supposedly, with the FDIC, a claim I have since been told is the scam of the month.

I have been working with the banks and other financial institutions to freeze all of my accounts, and also reported this crime to the Laconia police, the three main credit bureaus, the FTC, and the AARP.

I reported everything to Social Security because the hackers started opening new accounts, including with Apple, in my name.

I am now waiting for access to new debit and checking accounts, including one with my own local bank, which I discovered still has the exact same 1-800 number to call for fraud on the back of the new card. That's right — the same number I called that set this horror show in motion.

I am 75 years old and have been living in sheer terror all week, trying to figure out what else I should be doing to protect myself from further abuse. Never trust 1-800 numbers, which are easily highjacked. Use local numbers only.

Lynda True

Laconia