Husband's Wallet Stolen!!

Updated on June 25, 2008
D.Q. asks from Irving, TX
13 answers

My husband's wallet was stolen last night while he was out with some friends. He said he talked to the police, & I had no problem cancelling his debit card. (Luckly none of our credit cards were in it!) But of corse his licence was in there & I think he had his social security card in there too. :( With those two numbers, the right person could really do some damage. Other than ordering new ones, what do I do to, I don't know, "protect us"? I hope that makes sense. Thanks moms!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all so much for your advice! I covered all my basis so I think we'll be ok. But get this! My husband gets a call today from a man jogging in downtown Ft Worth who found his wallet on the side of the road! Minus the cash he had in it, everything was accounted for. How crazy is that????

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T.N.

answers from Dallas on

You should go online to report a fraud watch on experian, transunion, and equifax....this should help some, i hope...

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D.K.

answers from Dallas on

Your best bet is to contact the credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Here's a link with contact info for all three companies: http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/credit_bureaus.html

Tell them the situation and let them know you want a flag on your credit that you need to be called for new credit applications, or ask what their advice is.

Honestly, you may or may not get called (my husband and I tried this after our numbers were stolen, and we applied for a card somewhere to test it and they never called), but at least you've done due diligence and alerting the credit bureaus will offer some protection as well.

Good luck, and hopefully nothing will happen!

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R.H.

answers from Dallas on

Call the 3 credit bureaus and put a block on your credit. You will still be able to pull credit but you will have to answer questions only you will know the answers to. It's free and it lasts 90 days. I suggest that at 90 days, you call it and block it again.

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A.

answers from Dallas on

Call the credit bureau and put a "fraud alert" on your account. You will be notified every time someone applies for credit in your name(including you and your husband). I had my cards stolen 5 years ago and I put the fraud alert on at that time. We still get a phone call if either of us applies for credit or has a credit check. It is very helpful and I feel much safer knowing that I have to authorize it verbally over the phone. It is a completely free service of the credit bureaus.

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C.F.

answers from Dallas on

Most of the time people are just looking for cash money, I wouldn't worry too much, in your husbands situation it seems like that's all they where looking for, fast money. When someone wants to steal an identity they make sure they study the person very well before attempting anything.

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C.A.

answers from Dallas on

Call all 3 credit reportin agency and put a lock on your acounts (yours and his). If you apply for new credit, they will have to contact your first and you supply them with your password or else the request for the credit will be refused. Drastic measure but it does work.
C.

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G.B.

answers from Dallas on

Hello D.,

So sorry this happened. FIRST AND FOREMOST, NEVER CARRY YOUR SS CARD W/YOU!! So if any of you are carrying it, get rid of it now! Put it in a fire-safety box at home or in a safe deposit box!!

Second, call the SS office that is closest to where you reside and talk to them about the situation. With the police being called and notified, they would have given your dh a # he can call to get a copy of the report. You need to have that (usually within 10 days you can get a copy) and then take it to the SS Office so that you can get a new one. They may also give you some other guidelines to follow as well.

Call DPS, which handles Driver's License, again the one closest to you is the best. Google all of this for the numbers and locations. They again, will tell you what to do and he will have to pay to get another DL.

If you aren't sure about CC# information, you still need to contact the 3 Credit offices (google them as well), I think they are TransUnion, Experiean and another one, I can't think of right now. Go ahead and tell them what has occurred and that way they can flag that SS# or DL# and ask for additional ID, or some other form of proof of person. Again, they can give you guidance and direction on how to handle ID theft, should it occur.

Good Luck!!

G. B.

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A.R.

answers from Dallas on

Okaa, unfortunatly I have been a victem of identity theft due to stolen info (ss#, license #, ect). You have already called the bank, that is good, now you need to call all three credit agencies and put a "theft alert" on his social. By doing that they will contact you if his social is run at all, and nothing will be approved with out your consent. Also, contact the DPS incase they are stupid enough to use his license number for anything. Good Luck

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R.K.

answers from Dallas on

Make sure about three to six months check his credit report and from then on just so make sure theres something on it you dont recognize that way you are able to catch it early enough to protest it and fix the problem. If theres a police report theres a much better chance in removing the problem if god forbid it ever happens.

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A.L.

answers from Dallas on

I just went through a similar situation. Your husband needs to put an intial fraud alert with the three credit buereus. You can get the numbers for them online. They will mark his SS# for three months. This will make it to where anytime anyone, even him, applies for any kind of credit in that three month time span, the company giving the credit MUST call a number that your husband gives when he places the fraud alert. This way if anyone tries to apply for credit in his name, he will know and be able to stop it by alerting the credit company that he did not apply for it himself.

The TX DPS will not do much. All they said was you could talk to a DPS officer and get an ID card so you don't run into problems with writing checks.

Other than that, you can't do anything until or unless someone actually does something in the way of stealing identity, and you fill out a police report. In the event of this, and things get bad, the Social Security Administration will issue a new SS#.

Also, the social security administration web site has some good information on identity theft and prevention, as well as a link to the Federal Trade Commission (I believe it is FTC) with more information that can be helpful.

Good Luck.

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P.M.

answers from Dallas on

Immediately place a "fraud alert" with the 3 credit bureaus. It's a completely free service to you. Also, pull his credit monthly. I know this comes at a cost to you, but I am a victim of identity theft, for 5 years now, and I am still haunted by this. I didn't know until about a year and a half worth of damage, so you and your husband are very fortunate. I don't recommend sign up for a service that claims to keep you alerted when someone attempts to use your info, since I found this to be untimely. It's much better for you to mark your calendar, and YOU pull it as you feel it necessary. the fraud alert you place with the credit bureaus is the first thing you should do, along with going (yes, they won't come to you) down to the PD and filing a report. This report will help you to resolve any possible damaging future issues.

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T.

answers from Dallas on

I don't know if this will help or not, but when I pulled my credit report and found things on it that were not mine, I called and put a fraud alert on my SSN#. Now any time I try to apply for a loan, or anyone runs my credit, they call me and ask specific questions from information that is already on my credit report from the to make sure it's me. Maybe it will help. Good luck and I'm sorry to hear about the stolen wallet.

T.

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