Stolen credit card?

[blossom_rebuilding]

Well, I recently went on an app spree, and one of my new cards showed up in my mailbox with the envelope ripped open. It wasn't a case of improper glueing; it was clearly tampered with. Obviously, I won't activate the card, but other than reporting it stolen and watching my credit reports for suspicious activity, is there anything else I should be doing? I'm very nervous and upset that someone out there has my name and address, and an inactive account number. Thankfully there's no evidence that they have my social or other identifying information, but the uncertainty of what to do is getting to me.

[Anonymous]

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@blossom_rebuilding wrote:

Well, I recently went on an app spree, and one of my new cards showed up in my mailbox with the envelope ripped open. It wasn't a case of improper glueing; it was clearly tampered with. Obviously, I won't activate the card, but other than reporting it stolen and watching my credit reports for suspicious activity, is there anything else I should be doing? I'm very nervous and upset that someone out there has my name and address, and an inactive account number. Thankfully there's no evidence that they have my social or other identifying information, but the uncertainty of what to do is getting to me.

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If you are concerned that somehow your personal information has been compromised then you should consider freezing all of your credit reports.  That way no one would be able to open any credit accounts in your name.  If you do so then you would need to u freeze the reports, at least temporarily, if you decide to apply for any additional credit cards.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like someone has your name and address.  (It sounds like you realize that the account number is worthless to the bad guy, since it was cancelled immediately.)

I have access to the names and addresses of hundreds of thousands of people, just by opening a phone book.  So if that in itself were a problem, everybody would be in trouble.

My suggestion is to relax about the past event.  Always place high levels of security on any credit card you open: text and email alerts, weird security phrases that only you could guess, etc.  The good news is that the bad guys don't have your SS number.

[Anonymous]

The name and address no big deal.  The card number yes.  I would cancell and report stolen. 

[Anonymous]

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@blossom_rebuilding wrote:

Well, I recently went on an app spree, and one of my new cards showed up in my mailbox with the envelope ripped open. It wasn't a case of improper glueing; it was clearly tampered with. Obviously, I won't activate the card, but other than reporting it stolen and watching my credit reports for suspicious activity, is there anything else I should be doing? I'm very nervous and upset that someone out there has my name and address, and an inactive account number. Thankfully there's no evidence that they have my social or other identifying information, but the uncertainty of what to do is getting to me.

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My very first CC came in the same way after being "lost" in the mail for some time. Disco overnighted me a new card with a new number. Depending how much info was in the envelope -- CL, etc. -- they don't know anything more than that you're a customer of whatever card it was.

[blossom_rebuilding]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I agree that I am probably worrying over something that is super minor in the grand scheme of things. Other than the card information, name, address, and credit limit, there wasn't any other personal information included. Given that I immediately reported it stolen, the risk is relatively low. I'll stay vigilant in monitoring my credit reports for unauthorized activity.

[Anonymous]

If you don't want to go the freeze route then I'd at least do the fraud alert and then do as the other posts mentioned with regularly monitoring your credit report.