And of course, identity theft was added to my plate...
It wasn’t enough that I was pushing through the end of a nasty upper respiratory infection. Or that I had already rescheduled a long-awaited visit to see my mom—this time to celebrate her 83rd birthday. Hackers and identity thieves don’t care about timing, stress levels, or good intentions.
The call came the evening before an early flight to Nevada. I was finishing up work, wondering whether my antibiotics were doing enough, and still questioning whether I was healthy enough to travel. When my phone rang, I didn’t pause to check the number like I normally would. I answered with a cheerful, distracted, “This is Brea…
The caller identified herself as being from Citibank, calling to verify a charge of nearly $500 at a firearms store made several hours earlier. My radar flickered—our Citibank card had been closed years ago. But my husband had shopped at a firearms store the day before. That coincidence hooked me.
She explained that a card had been opened in my name in Brooklyn and that this was the first charge. She said all the right things: she wouldn’t ask for my Social Security number and only asked me to confirm my name and date of birth.
Still uneasy, I logged into my old Citibank account—no new card appeared. I then checked my credit reports at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. I distinctly remembered locking my credit, so no new account should have been possible.
That’s when I realized the truth: after purchasing a car two years earlier, I had never re-locked my credit. I was completely exposed.
My husband joined the call after I verified permission (so official). The caller suggested we might want to contact the FBI since firearms were involved. We discussed it briefly—this felt serious, and I didn’t want to carry this worry with me on my trip.
We looked up the FBI number online and prepared to call, but then the caller offered a “solution”: a direct transfer to the New York FBI hotline, complete with background details and case numbers.
Even then, I hesitated. The situation sounded legitimate, but a direct FBI transfer didn’t sit right. When the agent picked up, I immediately requested a callback so I could verify the number.
When the phone rang again, the caller ID displayed the FBI New York Field Office number—but with “Wells Fargo” listed above it.
That was the moment everything clicked.
When I questioned it, the agent sounded irritated: “Ugh, I keep telling them to fix that.” I hung up immediately.
I had been one step away from handing over personal information that could have caused years of damage.
I’m 51 years old. I work in the technology field. I know what scams look like. I know the risks. And still—I lost 40 minutes, spiked my heart rate, and exposed more information than I should have.
I wasn’t careless. I was overloaded.
Stress, timing, and coincidence created the perfect opening. I was lucky that a programming error on the scammer’s side stopped it. Not everyone gets that break.
I turned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation archives to understand what I should have done differently—and how to protect myself moving forward.
Back in the 1990s, requesting a credit report was slow, costly, and arrived by mail weeks later. Today, there are far better options:
I broke the number one rule—and I still can’t believe it.
I need my technology to work for me in three ways: clear, easy, and sustainable.
Instead of continuing to check my credit once a year, I realized I needed to be more proactive. We’re empty nesters now, and protecting our finances has taken on new meaning. We also have three children in their early 20s learning how to navigate adulthood—and all the risks that come with it.
I chose credit monitoring and identity protection through RC Systems & Support.
What surprised me most was the family dashboard. I can now log into one secure portal and see a summary for each family member: credit scores, number of accounts, debt levels, full credit reports, credit alerts, and identity monitoring—including activity found on the dark web.
This wasn’t just monitoring. It was visibility.
If another scam call comes in, I’m prepared to:
I wish I had never received that phone call—but it forced me to stop assuming I was protected and start actually protecting myself.
Now, my family has two powerful tools: knowledge and identity protection.
I never expected a single phone call to expose how vulnerable I really was—but it changed how I think about identity theft and credit monitoring entirely. Protecting your identity isn’t about reacting after something goes wrong; it’s about putting sustainable protections in place before life gets overwhelming.
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