California (OPENPRESS) December 27, 2011 - It can happen in the blink of an eye. You take your wallet out for just a moment, and someone takes it when you're not looking. Now your driver's license, credit cards, ATM card and all your other identifying information is in someone else's hands.
Your No. 1 fear, naturally, is identity theft. So if your wallet is stolen, what do you do?
First of all, contact your bank immediately. An ATM or debit card often has a Visa or Mastercard logo, so it can be processed like a credit card, but thieves know they can use it to clean out your bank account. You may even wish to close your account and open a new one.
Next, you should contact your credit card company. Thieves will move quickly, so it's important that you do the same. A thief can max out your credit cards in the blink of an eye, so you will want to contact your card issuers and, if possible, put a freeze on the accounts so that no charges can be made.
You'll want to keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements to watch for fraudulent activity.
Make sure you file a report with your local police department, getting and retaining the report number, as well as a hard copy of the report. You will need to supply a copy of the report to any company you notify of the theft.
Call one of the credit report bureaus, and report the theft to them, and place a fraud alert on your credit report. You will only have to call one bureau; it will notify the other two. Call Experian at 1-888-397-3742, Equifax at 1-888-766-0008 or TransUnion at 1-800-680-7289.
You may want to contact your insurance agent to find out if your homeowner's insurance has any identity theft protection coverage.
Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-IDTHEFT, and report the theft. You'll want to fill out a fraud affidavit, which you can get at the FTC's website. You will want to have several copies of this form on hand, as some creditors you deal with may ask for a copy.
You will, of course, need to obtain a new driver's license, and you'll want to ask for a new number instead of a duplicate. That way, if a thief attempts to use your license to commit a crime, he'll be picked up almost immediately by the police.
Although it's a bad idea to carry your Social Security card in your wallet, if you had it there, you'll need to call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 to report the theft, and inquire about getting a new card.
Last of all, and perhaps most important, you'll want to consider signing up with a credit monitoring service. Such a service will watch your credit report and notify you almost immediately if there's any attempt to use your information fraudulently.
