If you're a woman, have you checked your purse lately? Or shall we say your handbag?
Mine is stuffed with credit cards, driver's license, transit card, shopping rewards cards, keys (to anything that has a keyhole in my house), receipts, a notepad, coupons, pens (in as many colors as in a rainbow), make-up and stuff I don't know about!
In short, my handbag could be the gateway to identity theft.
It's Christmas and thefts are common during the shopping frenzy at this time of the year. It happened to a friend of mine two years ago - yes, around Christmas and at a department store. Absentminded, she kept her bag on a couch and went to take a look at a pair of shoes. Within a few minutes, she realized her shoulder wasn't feeling the weight of her immense handbag. Her heart pulsating, she turned around to grab her bag. It was gone.
Her first thought was not for the wad of hard-earned cash in that bag but that she would now be a victim of identity theft - for the rest of her life.
During a panic-stricken half hour, she asked fellow shoppers around if they had seen a large red handbag, requested the harried salespeople to see if a Samaritan had returned any bag and listened to a few sympathizers who said that the bag was perhaps "lost" for good.
When she calmed down, she took the following actions in the next 24 hours. Turns out, she was quite methodical about it.
File a police report
My friend called the police while at the department store. A friendly cop came, shrugged and said that such petty thefts were common during the holidays. He added that in most cases, the thieves are only interested in the cash and would in all probability trash the rest.
The cop asked my friend to make a list of all the items in the bag and told her to come back the next day for an official police report.
Call the credit card companies
My friend took no chances. She called the credit card companies to report the stolen cards - all of them were swift to respond and replaced the canceled cards within a week or two.
Call the credit bureaus
My friend also called all the three credit bureaus - TransUnion, Experian and Equifax - to place a fraud alert for 90 days. By law, she only had to call one of them but why take a chance? It was just two more calls.
Get a new driver's license
Getting a driver's license was the biggest hassle. It basically meant spending half a day or more standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles along with the official police report and identity documents.
What steps could you take to save yourself some pain?
Have a copy of credit card statement handy either online or in a drawer. You will need that information to cancel your cards.
Mighty Bargain Hunter has more ideas. Also take a look at how he handled the situation when his wife's wallet was stolen.
Did you have a similar experience? What did you do?
