wife's purse stolen... what do we need to do?

[nicholas421]

my wife's purse was stolen a couple hours ago. we called to cancel the credit cards and apparently the bastard has already used it at a couple gas stations. besides canceling the cards and bank accounts... is there anything else i need to do? she had a lot of personal info in her purse. there was a PDA in it with all our financial info, social security numbers, and god knows what else. what a pain. any suggestions or links would be greatly appreciated.

 

[NSXWIND]

file police report

call all credit bureau (Trans Union, Experian, Equifax)to put a password on the name (or other type of security measure), this is to prevent those bastards to purchase anything huge or apply for anything that require credit check.

www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
www.equifax.com

 

[NSXWIND]

I went through this a year ago, if my memory serve me correct, you will have to obtain a copy of your credit report before you can talk to a live person regarding your credit file.

credit reports are free, I believe they give you one free copy per year, but only when you have been turn down for car, cellphone, credit car etc.....

I'll dig for the phone number of those credit bureaus when I get home, so you won't have to wait for credit report before you can talk to them.


HTH

 

[ss_md]

credit reports are free, I believe they give you one free copy per year, but only when you have been turn down for car, cellphone, credit car etc.....

HTH

You can get a free credit report whenever you get denied credit. Otherwise, you need to pay a small fee to each agency to obtain. They stopped giving 1 free report per year several years ago.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

This is from one of those old e-mail chains:

1. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen, this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

2. But here's what is perhaps most important: (I never ever thought to do this) - Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and SS#. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me and application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost 2 weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their tracks.

The numbers are:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

 

[lemansnsx]

Here is the FTC page on the subject:
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Privacyrights.org has some useful stuff:
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm

In this day and age I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that someone offers a kit for this with a money-back guarantee if your identity is actually stolen:
http://www.myidfix.com/lost-wallet-stolen-wallet-purse.htm
( I know absolutely nothing about this company, it could be a scam, but I thought that it was interesting enough to post )

 

[KGP]

Went through this a few years back when my wifes cash and cards were stolen out of her purse while it was left in her car (why do they leave those things there? ). I went to the stores where they had used the cards looking for a security camera recording. No luck. A few days later we get a cancelled check that didn't match or signatures, so off I went to that store. The place actually had a video tape of the day the check was used in the store. Three kids buying hockey equipment. Took the tape home and asked one of the high school kids if they recongized the punks. Sure enough they were local, and I got names. Police went to the high school under the guise of looking at yearbook pics for identity purposes in order to protect the kid who ID'd them. Later that day the cops walked onto the football practice field and hand-cuffed them in front of all their team mates. They ended up confessing to over 120 roberies in the neighborhood.

I think they learned their lesson. :smile: Video was great. Showed two of them with their backs to the camera with their fingers crossed, hoping the check was accepted by the cashier. Cops busted out laughing when they saw that.

For your cards, your covered. If she had checks in her purse, you have 60 days from your next bank statement to reverse the transactions. Keep an eye on your credit report. There are some services that will notify you if anyone applies for credit using her SSN. Other than that, it's just a hassle.

 

[Casper91]

Any keys in her purse?
If so start changing some locks.
It would be very bold of them to come back to your house.
But you'll sleep better knowing that your house is secure.

 

[nicholas421]

thanks everyone for the helpful info!

it was stolen from a church daycare parking lot... my wife ran in to pick up my son. she left her car running... good thing they didn't take the car.

luckily no keys in the purse... it was in the ignition.

 

[NSX 3.0]

Went through this a few years back when my wifes cash and cards were stolen out of her purse while it was left in her car (why do they leave those things there? ). I went to the stores where they had used the cards looking for a security camera recording. No luck. A few days later we get a cancelled check that didn't match or signatures, so off I went to that store. The place actually had a video tape of the day the check was used in the store. Three kids buying hockey equipment. Took the tape home and asked one of the high school kids if they recongized the punks. Sure enough they were local, and I got names. Police went to the high school under the guise of looking at yearbook pics for identity purposes in order to protect the kid who ID'd them. Later that day the cops walked onto the football practice field and hand-cuffed them in front of all their team mates. They ended up confessing to over 120 roberies in the neighborhood.

I think they learned their lesson. :smile: Video was great. Showed two of them with their backs to the camera with their fingers crossed, hoping the check was accepted by the cashier. Cops busted out laughing when they saw that.

For your cards, your covered. If she had checks in her purse, you have 60 days from your next bank statement to reverse the transactions. Keep an eye on your credit report. There are some services that will notify you if anyone applies for credit using her SSN. Other than that, it's just a hassle.

Good detective work KGP....