Recent Theft - Need help

[Anonymous]

I was recently robbed and briefcase stolen. Included in my briefcase were all my 2007 tax records, State and Fed., SS#s, credit card information and etc. Aside from the obvious (calling CC companies), what can I do to protect my credit with the credit agencies and otherwise? Any help would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I'm assuming you've already filed a police report.

After that I'd place FAs (Fraud Alerts) on all three.  If I remember correctly, if you place one the other two get placed as well -- but please double check that or wait for someone else to chime in.

I'm sorry to hear that you were violated in this manner.  Back in July I left my wallet in a black car in Brooklyn and lost all sorts of stuff (SSN on an old student ID, blank checks, CCs, DL, etc.)  Oddly enough some of the CCs and my DL were returned to me after most likely being dumped in a mailbox right next to the dispatch station for the car service.  They lied when I called to ask about the wallet -- I figured it out about 5 min after getting out of the car.

Good luck with this.

[MattH]

Sounds like OP faces a truly major mess, my sympathies!  As WPP says, if OP has not filed a police report that must be done ASAP.

Here is some information from the Social Security Administration:

Identity fraud FAQ

A friend's daughter recently called him in a panic because she lost her wallet on the NYC subway but she was lucky.  About five minutes later the phone rings again: "Hi, I found a wallet on the subway..."  Turned out the finder's office was about half a mile from the daughter's office.

In graduate school my department decreed we Teaching Assistants had to grade papers only in our offices, we could not take them home, after a backpack full of exams got stolen in the library causing a HUGE mess.

Message Edited by MattH on 01-15-2009 10:37 PM

[Anonymous]

What do you all think about the suggestion that d1962 also freeze his/her credit reports ?

Equifax
link

Experian
link

TransUnion
link

Even for people who haven't experienced any identity theft or had anything sensitive documents stolen, it seems (to me) like a huge time-saving proactive measure to safeguard your credit. When my mother had her purse stolen, even though no one tried to commit any fraud in her name, we found it to be a suprisingly immensely time-consuming effort just to contact her creditors and drive to the nearby banks to notify them of the theft and request/order new account number and cards.

[Anonymous]

There's one other thing that might be worth doing. My mother's wallet had her Medicare card which in turn uses your social security number as your id number.

When we were browsing the government website about social security, we found out two things.
1) The website is set up so that you can makes changes online about your personal information
2) You can restrict/block online access

We were concerned about the id thief being savy enough to think of going online and trying to make changes, so we opted to restrict/block electronic access

To do so, you have to make the request during certain hours. Here's the information:

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http://www.ssa.gov/onlineservices/

http://www.ssa.gov/blockaccess/

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we cannot process your request at this time.

This service is available during the following hours (Eastern Time):

Monday through Friday: 3:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Saturday: 5:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sunday: 7:00 AM - 11: PM
Holidays: 3:00 AM - 2:00 AM

If you need immediate assistance:

You may call us Monday through Friday:
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM at 1-800-772-1213

If you are deaf or hard-of-hearing, call our toll-free TTY number:
1-800-325-0778

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Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 01-15-2009 10:51 PM