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I accidentally gave my name and address to a scammer. What can I do? Is that bad? What can they do with that information?

user
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user36537
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2 Answers2

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You encountered a quite common scam: You are supposed to perform a job, they send you a check for too much money, and you are supposed to pay them some money back. Ten weeks later the check bounces and your money is gone.

That's these people's job. They do this all day long. The success rate isn't very high, so they are busy doing this all day. These scammers might have your name and address, but if that is all there is, they can get names and addresses of 100s of people by using the phone book, and they don't.

I wouldn't say that it is impossible to turn your name and address into money, but it is hard work. So it is quie unlikely to happen.

gnasher729
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First off how do you know if they are indeed a scammer?

What can they really do with that?

Well it depends on the scammer's skill and sophistication.

Ideally with your name and address, they would probably send you mail that attempts to scam you. For example, they might send you a check but will require you to do something in order to receive that money.

If this scammer is very sophisticated they can get your life's story with that information alone.

NuWin
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