Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

Leilani · #1 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009

Hi Everyone

I wasn't quite sure where to post this but hope this will be the right place. I had read about K7 fax numbers through the forum under Voip,Fax, etc. I went to the site and decided to get an account because it sounded great to me. I've had this number since Sept 8, 2009 and have given it to people and used it to promote my business on different advertising sites and in my marketing.

Recently, I received a couple of faxes from someone I didn't know. When I received the first one, I was a little annoyed but thought that maybe the person just dialed the wrong number. Yesterday I received another fax but this had a lot of personal information.

This person had faxed their social security card, their spouse's social security number, W2 forms, Driver's license, and other information. I thought to myself, this is not a good thing and I should see if I can get some information off of the items that were faxed to contact this person and explain that they were faxing it to me.

I didn't find a phone number but did get an address and then used the white pages on the internet and located this person's phone number. I called the person and explained what had happened. They were shocked and very happy to receive my phone call.

They contacted the person that gave them the fax number. They called me back and told me that the person that gave them that fax number has had it for a number of years. This in turn shocked me and now I'm not sure what to do.

Any suggestions?

I learned a very good lesson here and I just wanted to share this experience with all of you.With all of the problems that people are having with identity theft,you need to be very careful.

JoCarole · #2 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009

Wow, this is too scary! Thank you for posting this. I am so paranoid about my SS#, don't give it to anyone, much less fax it to anyone at all. Even at the doctor's office, they have a box for SS#s. I don't fill it in and if asked, I ask them "can you tell me why that's needed"? Usually the answer is "oh you don't have to fill it in"

Action Jackson VA · #3 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009

Thank you for sharing. It is so important to notify people who send you personal information, when it is sent to the wrong fax. You saved them a few headaches wondering if their fax went to the right place or not.

Andrea~

Leilani · #4 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009

Thanks for the replies ladies, I appreciate it and the tip about the social security card will save me a lot of worry.

areyes · #5 (**permalink**) 11-11-2009

wow, really this is good to know because i just got this...

Elite Assistants LLC · #6 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010

Wow, I was about to sign up for this. I saw the thread you're referring to and it sounded like an ideal thing. I guess what they say is true. "Nothing is free. Everything has a price."

Olinda Services · #7 (**permalink**) 02-06-2010

I briefly had a K7 fax number until I sent myself a fax and the number belonged to someone else. Never could a hold of a real person.

RhondaHolscher · #8 (**permalink**) 02-07-2010

Thanks for the warning. I just use a regular fax machine on my regular phone line, so I don't have to worry about that right now. Hopefully, I won't have to in the future.

kafellc · #9 (**permalink**) 02-07-2010

Thanks for sharing. It shows the importance of always checking with a client or business before you send information via fax. It also made me realize the importance of letting people know when we make changes in our business contact information.

Office Goddess · #10 (**permalink**) 02-08-2010

I use 'JustTheFax' freeware to send and receive faxes instead of having a fax machine, buying toner, etc. It's also nice to be able to just 'delete' junk faxes instead of 'killing trees' by having them print out.

If you just want to be able to send, MicroSoft included faxing software on all its XP and vista machines. A great tuturial video for setting up MS Fax is located here.