Mom's wallet stolen - indenty theft??

[JoanneOR]

I'm so frustrated and mad!! :mad: My mom just called and said her wallet was stolen. She either dropped it or it was taken out of her purse while shopping. By the time she realized it they had tried to charge $1400 at Target (luckily they didn't authorize it), and amounts under $25 and about five other places. She had her insurance cards (medicare and blue cross) and drivers' license in there. She didn't have a list of all her cards, but is calling places now to report it, at least the ones she can remember. She's not sure if her Social Security number is on her drivers license or insurance cards. In Illinois you can opt out of it on your license, but she doesn't remember if she did or not. Is there anything we can do to prevent someone using it if it is on there? It's probably too late now, but I'm trying to cover all the bases. She's calling the credit reporting agencies and we're going to the police station in a bit to file a report. She's been through so much lately with health problems - it's right before the holidays - how can people be such inconsiderate idiots!!! :mad: :mad: It scares me that these creeps have her address now, too. UGH!!

Anything I'm missing that we should be doing? I guess I'm just venting and looking for advice if anyone has unfortunately been in the same situation.

[mbrogier]

I lost my wallet at school in Schaumburg, IL. I filled out a police report (over the phone). That proves that the wallet was stolen and the charges are fraud.

There's this guy that's been advertising keeping your Social safe. He drives around Chicago with his social security number on his trucks. A google search says his company's name is www.lifelock.com They guarantee that even if someone had you social that they couldn't use it. Maybe if you call them today they can put you into their register before the thief has a chance to use your social--since that would take some time. They give you 1m in coverage again damages if someone uses your social. It's worth a shot, I think.

The lifelock webpage wasn't working for me a few minutes ago, but there's a lot of theft around the holidays. There could be server issues. Keep trying.

[Robyn1007]

I'd be careful about Lifelock, apparently there's some uncertainty about their founder's past and since I can't find any major name reviews with a quick search but do see a lot of reference to possible scams I'd call the bureaus myself and do the fraud alert.

[armel]

I watched the videos on the lifelock website. They have been mentioned by the today show and MSNBC as having folks use their service. It is mentioned in passing when identity theft was discussed. Not as an in depth look at them. For what that is worth . . .

[Gilgamesh37]

My Mom's medicare number WAS her social security number, so yes they have her SSN. The police may have some more suggestions of things you can/should do to minimize damage. I am so sorry you're having to deal with this!

[JRM24]

In Chicago, the FBI and police have a very active identity theft task force. I would report it to the FBI (check out their website) as well as the Federal Trade Commission. When you report to the FTC they will ask you for your police report number. Almost all law enforcement agencies have access to the FTC database and use it to identify associations between cases and initiate investigations.

Make sure that all three credit reporting agencies have fraud alerts on the reports. This is really important if the criminals were to try to open up new bank accounts in your mother's name and deposit fraudulent checks. This is the most popular crime and the hardest to detect since bank accounts do not appear on your credit report.

Make sure all checks and credit cards are cancelled and new cards - with new account numbers are issued. It is a lot of work, but it is the best way to protect her.

If you need information, please don't hesitate to email or PM me.

[MaryH]

And having been through this myself, I also suggest you see if you can get a NEW driver's license number - not just a replacement card - but a whole new number, because many times they have used it as id when writing checks. My bank was able to fax me copies of the checks that had been written and it clearly showed that they were writing the DL number on them.