Wallet Missing - What now

[RMAMom]

My 20 yr old DD lost her wallet, the last place she remembers having it is at Wal-Mart Saturday evening. Thankfully her bank card was in her pocket so we aren't concerned that her bank account will be emptied. We have replaced her military ID and her drivers license and she has filed a report with the local PD. My biggest concern is that her SS card was in her wallet, she never took it out of there after getting hired for her current position a few months ago.

My question is, should she be doing anything else to protect herself? We have no idea if it was stolen or if she dropped it somewhere or any other possibility so I am working on worse case scenario and want to protect her as best we can.

Thank you

 

[mrsboz]

So weird. My 20 yr old son lost his wallet last night at the movies. He had over a $100 in it and his liscense. Bummer.

 

[lovesmurfs]

My 20 yr old DD lost her wallet, the last place she remembers having it is at Wal-Mart Saturday evening. Thankfully her bank card was in her pocket so we aren't concerned that her bank account will be emptied. We have replaced her military ID and her drivers license and she has filed a report with the local PD. My biggest concern is that her SS card was in her wallet, she never took it out of there after getting hired for her current position a few months ago.

My question is, should she be doing anything else to protect herself? We have no idea if it was stolen or if she dropped it somewhere or any other possibility so I am working on worse case scenario and want to protect her as best we can.

Thank you

She'll likely want to post a fraud alert with the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

It may be worthwhile to enroll in an identity theft protection plan, at least for a while. We use Dave Ramsey's Zander Insurance for ours: http://www.zanderins.com/idtheft/idtheft.aspx

Best wishes.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

My 20 yr old DD lost her wallet, the last place she remembers having it is at Wal-Mart Saturday evening. Thankfully her bank card was in her pocket so we aren't concerned that her bank account will be emptied. We have replaced her military ID and her drivers license and she has filed a report with the local PD. My biggest concern is that her SS card was in her wallet, she never took it out of there after getting hired for her current position a few months ago.

My question is, should she be doing anything else to protect herself? We have no idea if it was stolen or if she dropped it somewhere or any other possibility so I am working on worse case scenario and want to protect her as best we can.

Thank you

Make sure you report that the military ID was lost. (I'm sure you have, just wanted to note that)

My funny now, but not so much at the time experience with having my ID stolen when I was 18, about 2 years later, I'm living on my own, and working as an admin assistant for an insurance company when I get a phone call from my mom asking me what the heck I did. I'm completely confused, no idea what's going on, as she's telling me that I apparently rented porn from an independent video shop and never returned it!

The shop had called my father at work since he was listed on the ID as my sponsor, and he redirected them to my mother after telling them he didn't have time for the nonsense. Turns out, after I called the shop to figure out what was going on, that whoever stole my ID used it to open an account at this video store, strictly to rent porn. I guess they really liked one movie so decided to keep it. I finally asked the shop what the issue date on the ID was after remembering that mine had been stolen, and sure enough, it was the stolen one! Hilarious now, at the time, I was totally freaked!

 

[MomToOne]

Place a fraud alert on her record through any one credit reporting bureau. They will then report the alert to the other bureaus, so you don't need to actually contact all three.

Here's a link to do it for Experian:
https://www.experian.com/consumer/cac/FCRegistration.do?alertType=INITIAL_ALERT

The fraud alert will last for 90 days. If you want it longer, just put a reminder on your calendar and put in a new request after 90 days.

You could go a step further and place a freeze on her credit, but that's more drastic and I wouldn't bother with that unless you find signs that someone is trying to actually use her SSN. But it's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. Here's a link with more info from Experian:
http://www.experian.com/consumer/security_freeze.html?intcmp=INTUTL4252011_frzpf#state

Then I would just sign up for a free service like Credit Karma, and keep an eye on things to make sure no new accounts are opened up in her name.

I don't think paying for a credit protection service is worth it - you can do the same monitoring they do for free.

 

[NYCDiane]

Sorry to hear this

Hopefully, some decent person found it and will drop it in a mailbox and she'll get it back.

Even if she does, however, I would still put a freeze w/all three credit bureaus.

 

[RMAMom]

Thanks everyone, we contacted the credit reporting agencies. I guess all we can do now is wait and see.

 

[manning]

SS card stolen. Ouch, that's gold to a thief. Put a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus pronto.


The new rule today is never carry your SS card.

 

[scrapquitler]

My 20 yr old DD lost her wallet, the last place she remembers having it is at Wal-Mart Saturday evening. Thankfully her bank card was in her pocket so we aren't concerned that her bank account will be emptied. We have replaced her military ID and her drivers license and she has filed a report with the local PD. My biggest concern is that her SS card was in her wallet, she never took it out of there after getting hired for her current position a few months ago.

My question is, should she be doing anything else to protect herself? We have no idea if it was stolen or if she dropped it somewhere or any other possibility so I am working on worse case scenario and want to protect her as best we can.

Thank you

Go to each of the credit bureaus and put a credit FREEZE on her credit record. That way, nobody can open ANY credit cards, loans, etc. in her name or using her SS#. It will be a pain because anytime she wants to apply for credit or someone needs to check her credit file, she will have to temporarily unfreeze it, but it will guarantee that nobody can do anything to steal her identity. Here's a FAQ from Clark Howard: http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/nFbL/

 

[Turbanator]

Trace your last steps and ask in local shops, report it to the police and finally put a notice in wallmart offering a reward, hopefully you will be lucky and if not i cant think of anything else you could do

 

[Disney Springs]

Has she tried calling Walmart to see if anyone turned it in?

Years ago, I accidentally left my wallet in a shopping cart at WalMart. Didn't realize it until after I made it home. After I called my bank to freeze my debit card, I immediately called WalMart to report my missing wallet, and they actually had it at the customer service desk! An employee who was gathering carts in the parking lot, noticed my wallet, and turned it in.

I was so grateful! Nothing was missing from my wallet.

 

[Njord]

Go to each of the credit bureaus and put a credit FREEZE on her credit record. That way, nobody can open ANY credit cards, loans, etc. in her name or using her SS#. It will be a pain because anytime she wants to apply for credit or someone needs to check her credit file, she will have to temporarily unfreeze it, but it will guarantee that nobody can do anything to steal her identity. Here's a FAQ from Clark Howard: http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/nFbL/

Yes, if I thought I had lost my SS card, I would definitely jump straight to the credit freeze and not bother with the fraud alert.