Linda,
That is
terrible. What did these people do, sign up for an affiliate account using your name them make purchases with stolen credit cards, receive the commission, and left the innocent victims (you included) to clean up the mess afterwards? Or did they simply sign up with your name so they wouldn't have to pay taxes or something?
It's incredible how these things can happen. Certainly makes me take a good look at how I share my personal information and it's the
main reason I don't input any personal information if the sign up form isn't on an SSL server.
One time, I was about to sign up for an affiliate program, but it wouldn't allow me to sign up unless I provided my social security number. I e-mailed their support to ask why they are asking for such information on an unsecured server. They didn't know what I was talking about, so I actually had to show them a picture of what a secured address looks like (i.e. https:// as opposed to
http://) and you know what they said? Well, you don't have to sign up for the affiliate program. ROFL.
Sometimes, I think that these merchants should take the necessary precautions to protect their affiliates. With such a large name as yours, they should have been wary of your signing up and contacted you about it.
~ Teli