I got a check in the mail from Green Dot for $600+. I did not know what Green dot was and assumed it was a scam. I wondered whether it was from another company that changed names so I Googled Green Dot and found it is a legit online bank/prepaid credit card company. I called their customer service line and talked to their fraud department. They looked up my name and did find an account in my name but said it was through one of their subsidiaries Go2bank and I would have to talk to their customer service.

The Go2bank customer service looked up the account that has my name on it and said I would need to talk to their corporate customer service line and gave me that number.

The corporate customer service said that the good news is that they are a prepaid/loadable credit card company only and that means they don't report to credit agencies and that my money/credit rating was not at risk. They recommended that I file a report with identitytheft.gov but that it was up to me whether I cashed the check. They said it was issued in my name and sent to my address so it is legally mine to cash.

I know I've never had a Green Dot or Go2bank account, but still wonder if it is from some other long lost account. I also still wonder if it could be a scam, but don't know how that would work. What would you do?

Put it all on Home Depot stock

Green Dot is a legit bank, but they sort of cater to those who want to be off grid or anonymous. For that reason it is very commonly associated with all sorts of scams.

I would throw it away.

They are online only, they have the shortest possible check hold timing and you can exchange money from their accounts to gift cards almost immediately with no way to track it. Many companies refuse to allow their employees to use Greed Dot for direct deposit.

Who knows what you'd implicate yourself in if you cash that check, or who would later be calling you to blackmail you.

I'd also worry that >$600 is enough for it to be reported to the Feds. It would be really sad to somehow get pulled in when some scam gets busted because you cashed a $600 check.

Go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action and get all three credit reports free. Then call all of them a freeze your accounts. Review the report for any activity that is not yours.

Thanks for the replies. I will be freezing mine and my wife's credit. After reading about it a bit, it seems like most people should freeze their credit. I'll also request my credit reports, which I have not done in quite a while.

akaggie05 said:

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Check your credit reports for other shenanigans. Had my identity stolen a few years ago in a fairly elaborate scheme where someone had my SSN and likely a fake id with my name and address on it. They went on a spree at every major wireless carrier and procured 4-5 iPhones at each place using my credit, and opened up store credit cards at Kohls and a few other places.

The first sign of trouble was a flood of "welcome to your new account" letters in the mail from every wireless carrier. I then got a prepaid debit card in the mail (similar to what you're describing) with a few hundred bucks and change on it. From talking to that company, the only previous charges on the "account" were at a FedEx location. Guessing they likely got the phones and shipped them to wherever to be re-sold and opened up a prepaid debit account to remain anonymous in that last piece of the puzzle.

TL;DR: Where there's smoke there's usually fire. Lock down your stuff.

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Almost my exact experience.
https://texags.com/forums/38/topics/2798438

Good time to recommend people freeze their credit. Back in the day you had to pay for it but its been free for many years. Easy to unfreeze if you ever need to open a new credit card or something like that. People should talk about it more.

Wow, they took it to the next level with your stuff. The creepy thing about my case was that it was local. The shopping spree for cell phones and store credit applications happened all within a 25 mile radius of my house.

And somewhat funny looking back, when they got to T- Mobile (where I already have an account) they managed to just tack on 4 new iPhones to my existing account. In the process they changed my account to a family plan and knocked me off a grandfathered plan that I had been on for years. The worst part of unscrewing the whole thing was the multiple layers of offshore customer service I had to talk to in order to get my old plan reinstated. None of them could seem to process the fact that it wasn't me who had made the change (because whatever computer screen they were staring at basically said "customer came into store and changed plan."

I filed police reports but that went nowhere of course. Even got a nice postcard in the mail from Dallas PD saying "unlikely to result in a conviction, case dropped."

Did TMobile have video of them? Also, I would be curious if the T-Mobile employee was in on it.

Multiple places had video but I ran into the "need a subpoena to release it" response pretty much universally. With T-Mobile I could even pull up a time-stamped receipt down to the second that they checked out. I dropped it when it was apparent that the cops weren't going to do anything.

Kind of doubt that someone at T-Mobile was on the inside. I don't believe that was the first place they visited, and they were definitely hitting all of the majors (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile). I can only imagine the awkward conversation that happened at T-Mobile though... "uh sir, you want a new account with 4 new phones... we see you already have an account with us, shall we just add them onto that one?" "Uhhhhh, yes."

Someone has filed for unemployment benefits in the State that you live in using your name and social security number, and many states use Greendot to disburse the money. This can be a real headache for you. Assuming you live in Texas, here's some more details, but each State has a similar website regarding unemployment fraud. I'd hold onto the check to provide evidence of the fraud. Your employer may be contacting you soon as well.

https://www.twc.texas.gov/jobseekers/unemployment-benefits-fraud

We had 20 employees get hit last year, and most received Greendot cards for payment, which made me think of it when I read your original post. Most filed police reports, etc. and no big deal, but one lady had them also open a checking account in her name and get benefits direct deposited to that account (which she knew nothing about) and they spent all the money from the unemployment deposits and then started writing bad checks off the account. It was a big headache for her, and just when she thought she had it solved, she received tax documents claiming she owed taxes on her unemployment income. Definitely something you want to squash ASAP, if you can.

Sounds like when your credit card company sends you checks to use.

(Throw away)

Serioius question - did you get a PPP Loan in your name? We have been seeing lots of PPP loan recipients get credit shark junk mail / email recently. Seems like the credit people have been sending junk to all the folks on the PPP loan list.

MEENag said:

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Interesting. A little over a year ago, my employer's HR department called and asked if I had filed for unemployment. Since I had not, they told me to file a report with TWC and my local PD. I did both and that is the last I heard of it.

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LOL. Happened to me and another colleague too in the same time frame. TWC was so overwhelmed by that type of fraud claim since COVID that when you called to report, you were automatically routed to a voicemail box setup that told you to leave a message reporting the fraudulent benefits claim but letting you know not to expect a call back. I sent an email and filed an online report as well. No response.

Did you put in a claim for the Experian Data Breach settlement, by chance? I just got an email this week about switching from a check to a Paypal deposit, so it looks like they're paying those out right now.

No PPP loan or Experian data breach claim from me. I now assume these are state funds from a fake unemployment claim that some scammer failed to successfully execute to their benefit. Will not cash.

Any chance your mailbox is accessible to the public. Maybe someone is checking your mailbox to get that check?

In the old days stealing ID and cards were most commonly from non locked mailboxes.

ID theft should be a felony with a minimum sentence of 20 years. Cops would start investigating real quick.

I finally got around to requesting credit reports and freezing credit today. I actually only requested one credit report so far. After looking through it and not seeing anything of concern I moved on to freezing my credit with the three services. I thought I was going to have to call to do it, but it can be done online very easily. Each of them only takes 5-10 minutes to do, and most of that is setting up a new account.

One thing I noted on the credit report is insurance providers and my mortgage company inquiring regularly. My mortgage company makes monthly credit inquiries. I know insurers give good credit discounts, but what need does my mortgage have for so many inquiries?
I'm not sure what the credit freezes will do for those insurance inquiries. Will the companies contact me to let me know they failed to get a report, or will I just lose the discount?

Thanks again for all of the advice.

1. Get all three reports. This is a must. Many creditors, mostly small, will report derogatory items to just one bureau to save costs.

2. There is no reason for any mortgage company to pull your credit unless you have given them specific approval, in writing, and only for to complete an application you completed. Big no-no for us to pull credit without authorization. Like losing your license problem.

3. No idea on the insurance pulls. You need to ask them. Insurance companies do look at credit to evaluate repayment worthiness but they usually do a 'soft pull' which they see the credit but not pay for a hard pull. Soft pulls cost about 75% cheaper then hard ones.

Considering the economic **** storm still ahead of us, many people are going to find themselves desperate and resort to thievery so we should all freeze our credit.