Good Advice
Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both
sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you
had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers
to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place (not in your
wallet). A corporate attorney sent this out to the employees in
his company. I pass it along, for your information.
We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed us
in your name, address, SS#, credit, etc. Unfortunately I (the author
of this piece who happens to be an attorney) have firsthand knowledge,
because my wallet was stolen last month and within a week the thieve(s)
ordered an
expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit
card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received
a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online,
and more.
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case
this happens to you or someone you know. As everyone always advises,
cancel your credit cards immediately, but the key is having the
toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to
call. Keep
those where you can find them easily. 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).
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 an 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
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