Words of advice reference stolen billfold

On December 23, I had my billfold stolen. Yes I was a "dumb cluck" as I had my purse in my cart wide open while shopping in Sams. I discovered it was gone when I went to pay for stuff. Well anyway, here are a few things I learned from that experience. Keep your purse zipped up and around your shoulders. (I know - no brainer.) In a separate place, keep a copy of everything you keep in your billfold with phone #'s. Don't keep a social security card in your billfold (I didn't - that was advice from the policewoman.) Call the police immediately. They had to come to talk to me in person otherwise they could not file a report. You then have to get the policeman/woman's name and give their name to the credit card companies so they call the company to investigate.

Within a half hour's time, the thieves racked up $800 at Toys-R-US and $500 at Walmart on one card and then charged another $500 at Walmart on another card. My worst fear was that I just started working for USDA and am one of only 4 employees in my agency that carries a purchase card and that the thief would rack up charges on that card. He did attempt to get cash at an ATM from that card but couldn't. I am not responsible for any of the charges. This is automatic on the part of all credit card companies so don't fall for that credit card insurance that some companies try to sell you.

Walmart and Toys R Us will be reponsible for these charges which, or course, they will pass on to the customer.

I was told by a credit card customer representative that Walmart employees are now checking the back of cards of PIN numbers and signatures. However, I was just in Walmart last week and they didn't check. Fortunately, I hate carrying cash and only had $5 in my billfold. Replacing the driver's license was the biggest pain. I had to show them my marriage license and also had to have something official with my signature on it so they could compare signatures.

I always say life is full of lessons - and I learned some good ones with this experience.

Man what a hard lesson. I got lucky when I paid for some take out from a reputable resteraunt around here and used my debit cart. DH checks our account over the phone and neither of us could account for several double charges, got a copy from the bank and it had email adddresses for porno. Seems whoever took the number off of my reciept that I gave to the waitress was ordering porno items for themselves and a friend. Im sure glad we know the people at out bank personally, with their help we had it stopped and the money returned to us within a few days to a week. Since we had pointed out wich ones and that we never order that kind of stuff the bank people actually called me when they found another one that made it in before they canceled my card..

You bring up some great points -- Sorry your knowledge is born of personal experience!

My wallet was stolen from my purse at work (I was a call center employee). I know it was someone in my row, and even had a good idea of who it was, but that didn't help. The person stole my wallet and headed over to MY bank's main office right after he got off work (a half hour before me). He tried three numbers on the ATM, did not succeed, and the ATM took my card.

When I heard this, I thought "good! I can ID him from the security camera's video!". I was shocked and angered when the bank rep explained that the ATM there doesn't *have* a camera. I cancelled that account and retrieved the confiscated card, thinking it was no doubt covered with the thief's fingerprints.

The local police said there was no point in their taking the fingerprints, because they'd have to have just cause to question a person and fingerprint him...Plus they just don't do that with petty crimes like that, they said.

That darned bank STILL doesn't have a camera there. What if someone was held at gunpoint and made to get money out some time? Blah.

I think it's a good time to change banks!

Dravencat, were there any ramifications for the restaurant employees, who obviously had something to do with releasing the cards numbers to someone for illicit purposes?

And Gardenwife, doesnt that really annoy you that you have to have a bleeding hole in your gut or a smoking gun to get law enforcements attention anymore? IF petty crimes aren't worth chasing after, then they can hardly be considered a crime and yet they are still a violation of each individuals personal space and property.

I thought this attitude of "petty crimes don't pay to prosecute" was inherent in the big city law enforcement and we get used to it, (and accept it?) But I would have thought the smaller towns of America still took all violations of the law seriously.

Or is there no Mayberry or Sheriff Andy Taylor anymore?

Molly I think Mayberry is in towns of less than oh say 10?! I dont think there were any ramifications but boy did I want them. I called the resteraunt and spoke withe the manager and gave him date and time and what happend, he sounded very surprised but I told him I made sure the waitress had the reciept in her hand before I left and that he better keep an eye out for anyone who works that area. I didnt put all blame on the waitress,maybe I should have but told him I couldnt know if it was her or one ofthe other patrons who might have gotten too close to her. The police wouldnt even check it out, all they had to do in my opinion was get a hold of the porno site with a warrant or something and get the mailing address and go from there. Not too difficult in my mind but since it was my money I guess I was more concerned about it than anyone else. I still want to go after those morons.

I have one better for you My sister worked at walmart and she was in there shopping afetr work and her wallet to got stolen out of her purse in teh cart she wnet to the security man and told him wher she was at and what time it occured so he could look it up in the security cameras he said They don't have cameras there it is all fake, it would cost walmart way too much money to be running those cameras, all the time. weather this is really the case or not I don't know, but she learned a valuable lesson she lost her whole pay check drivers license and ss card too. I always zip my purse and run the child safety belt through my purse the minute i walk in the door.

my purse stays on my shoulder, zipped up and if there is anyone anywhere near me it stays in front of me. If im in a place thats really busy with lots of people and little room I keep my hand on the zippers too.

I doubt the Wal-Mart's cameras are fake, but their security guard was certainly lazy and apathetic. You can bet they'd produce a tape if someone robbed a cashier at gunpoint then fled.

I carry my camera bag as a purse and keep my cards and cash all in one pocket of it. When shopping, I put it in the cart and secure it down with the child restraint strap, locking it in place. In the winter, I put it in the bottom of the cart and put my coat over and around it.

We have a problem with purse snatchers in our town where they hang out at the local Walmart or grocery store, one is on foot- the other in a car. The one on foot grabs the purse out of your shopping cart (yes, how many folks still lay their purse in their shopping cart?), runs over to the waiting car and off they go. No mention is EVER made in the newspaper or news casts, as the shopping center/stores don't want the bad press. A local policeman told me that these purse snatching happen every day here in Knoxville.

These guys are quick enough that they are gone before you can even turn around. As someone who used to lay my purse in the cart, I am just grateful that a local policeman warned me about this problem before it happened to me.

Oh, this same bank I'm talking about has a branch office with an ATM that's located right next to the back of the buiding. Just past it is a blind corner, where a thief could easily hide and rob someone who pulls up with the car window still down.

I e-mailed them saying a convex mirror mounted at the edge of the building would make it safer for customers. They wrote back and bascially blew it off.

This thread has me thinking that I really need to write a letter to the local paper. The bank has given us *excellent* customer service when we've had any kind of problem with our accounts, so we don't want to switch. I'm just very bothered by the two things I mentioned and still think they should make the changes for the good of all customers.

This message was edited Jan 21, 2004 6:10 PM

I wear a fanny pack. It keeps my hands free. It took me awhile to give up all the stuff I used to carry in my purse but I got used to it. On dh's credit card on the back where you are supposed to sign your name, he wrote "see photo id" so they have to ask for his drivers license.

Vic, writing that next to his signature is a GREAT idea!

I have had 'see photo id' on my card for quite a few years and you would be shocked at how few times the cashiers ask for it. Sometimes I get it ready and show it and they say, 'oh,yeah, ok', and I know they hadn't planned to ask for it. My son's card was lost and whoever found it charged about $800. on it. He wasn't liable for any of it. About $500. was at Walmart and they told us they are required to check for id for every card. HA! HA! That's a joke! Very few ever ask. They told me I should report every cashier that doesn't check to the manager at Customer Service. Sure, and that's at the back of a huge store and I'm going to take my time to go report their problems? Not gonna happen!

Your Wal-Mart has its service desk in the back? All of ours have it right up front by the entrance. All of our layaway departments are in the backs, though. I would report them, because that's a big deal...We use a debit card instead of having credit cards, and if we have unauthorized charges, it would cause other stuff checks to bounce (that's the bad thing about debit cards).

i have to checking acounts one i use for my debit card and the other i use for my checks hat way i never worry about checks bouncing because i forgot to write a debit purchace down. i only put money in the debit acct when i need to order something

We have a second checking account use for online purchases. We use a debit card for it, too, and we transfer just enough into it for the purchase when we make them. That way, if someone online gets the number, there is not anything there and it's not our main checking and our livelihood that's hit.

We're admittedly lousy with credit and just don't have cards anymore; it's too tempting to misuse credit and be in debt. Been there, done that!

At the time it was an old Walmart and the office was in the back. Actually I think the Cust. Serv. was up front but I was supposed to go to the manager or asst. mang. office that was in the back. Something like that!? :)

Update - I received a call yesterday from Police Officer who was working on my case. She needed some copies of credit card fraud affidavit forms from me. SHe said there has been a "rash" of billfold and purse thefts in LIncoln and Omaha area and so far they are estimating that there have been over $10,000 in fraudulent charges. So I guess I wasn't the only careless one. I would think some of the affected merchants, i.e. Walmart, could post some kind of award to catch these people. Afterall, they are the ones losing out. Although, they just pass the cost on to the consumer.

Yes, so we're the ones who ultimately lose out by paying more... :(

I have not had my wallet stolen. BUT I found one last summer in plain view of the road for anyone to take. Its lucky for that young man that I found it and not a thief. I looked in the wallet and found the phone number to call. Not only did he not thank me but he expected me to drive to his house to return the wallet to him! Which I did Just to be rid of it and because by then I wished by then that I had given it to the police to return but that would have meant driving an hour from here in the boonies. I still shake my head at fact that he never seemed to realize how lucky he was. Cash and credit cards were in the wallet. Maybe I never should have looked in the wallet at all but I would have wanted it to be returned to me if I had lost it right away without waiting. Next time I would call the police and maybe they would drive to me?

Or next time, offer to pop it in the mail with a note - "lucky this was found by someone honest - hopefully you didn't lose anything and perhaps if you ever find another person's wallet, you'll pass along this favor".

I'm apalled at the thought that this fellow expected you to drive to his house to return it. Had it been me, I'd have been in my car immediately driving straight over with a hugely grateful "Thank You!!"

I found the same on an airplane one time, took the time to drop it off at the airline service counter, and fortunately, the person had reported it missing and they were able to mail it to her since her new address did not match the one on her driver's license.

Here's some advice I ran across on the Internet a while back which you should read. Particularly take the steps to stop identity theft. Sometimes people don't find out for months, and then it's a major, major problem. (For those of you who haven't yet had your wallet stolen, it's good to know in advance what you should do.)

WHAT TO DO IF YOU LOSE YOUR PURSE OR WALLET

We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed using your name, address, SS#, credit, etc. Unfortunately I (the author of this piece) 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 who to call. Keep those where you can find them easily (having to hunt for them is additional stress you WON'T need at that point!).

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: call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and SS#. This will help prevent identity theft, which can be a much bigger headache than all of the other stuff combined. 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) 1-800-301-7195
Trans Union 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration also has a fraud line at 1-800-269-0271