So yesterday I work as a Receptionist and I had stepped to the back to put away our office supply order. I was gone from my desk for maybe 20-25 minutes. When I came back I clocked out for lunch. As I am walking out the door I get a call from my bank. They had received some transactions that were in question but it didn't alarm me because this has happened to me in the past. The gal ask me well do you have your card in your possession? I said well of course I do. So I begin to look into my purse........no wallet! Someone STOLE it! They had everything and charged 88.63 at Cheveron with one card and then another one of my bank debit/credit card they racked up $318.00 at Target and $521.69 at OfficeMax. So of course we cancel the card and I go through the process of submitting the forms to them to deny the transactions. They will be sending me a new card and I called anyone and everyone else I could think of to inform them. I even put a fraud alert on my social security number even though my card was at home. It makes me VERY nervous they have my license therefore anytime can stop by my house and start unloading there as well. I informed my neighbors though and told them what happened and told them we were not expecting anyone NO ELECTRICIAN, PLUMBER, ETC. at our home and if they saw something of the such or anything fishy to call the cops. Ugh....this is horribel but I feel like I'm forgetting to do something in order to protect myself. Furthermore I can not for the life of me remember EVERYTHING in my wallet.............any advice ladies?
Oh and I forgot yes I called the police and made a report but no detective has called me back yet. Can't get my new license till I can get a report which won't be for a few more days......
Gas Station told me they paid at the pump-no security cameras in there. OfficeMax and Target both have cameras at each register however they will not release the footage to ME ONLY law enforcement. Luckily my SS card was at home but now I'm just paranid they will show up at my home and try to break in over here or even worse get my mail. Obviously they know that my old cards have been cancelled but they also have to know new ones are on the way too. Hopefully neighbors can keep an eye but I wouldn't expect them to keep watch of my home from 7-6 .......this is so horrible.
ps - DMV will NOT use a po box on a driver's license, at least not here - doubtful any state would...
Go the three top credit bureaus and post a fraud alert so that they cannot get a new credit card in your name.
File a police report - make sure everything is documented.
GO to the DMV and get a new license...I would ask if you can do a PO box and if so - rent one for the year so that no one has your home address in the future...
Talk to your human resources department and file a report with them and your security department - if your company has one...if you are going to be the receptionist again (not sure if this was your regular job) demand a locking desk.
Change all the locks at your home - I know they took your wallet - but it doesn't mean they could not have taken your keys and made a form copy of it...I know it's done in the movies - but it seems like movies are becoming real life lately...
Any credit cards you did have - look at your monthly statement and call them and cancel them. Have them re-issue you a new card number, etc.
If you can afford it - get a security system on your home.
If you have a key pad entry garage door - change the combo
I'm sorry this happened...it sucks that people feel entitled to things in which they did not earn...
All three of those stores have security cameras. They should be able to tell you what time the transaction occured and at what pump/register. I would think that with three different places you could possibly get a good shot of the idiot who stole your wallet from their camera. Sorry Police People, but some times you have to take matters into your own hands and do the leg work yourself. I would be approaching those stores ASAP since they normally don't save video camera footage for more than 24-28 hours.
Its amazing to me that the police will haunt the roads looking for traffic violations, but don't have the time to take a police report for theft.
I always investigated crime before traffic.
Radio shack and Sams sell a home security system. Consider the one that photographs intruders. They have them on motion dectors so that it turns on when motion is detected.
Good luck to you and yours.
This is a major bummer! The video thing got me thinking...do you have one in your office? If you're the receptionist I would imagine any sort of camera would be set up in your general area and maybe you can see who did it?! I hate to say that it was probably someone you work with, which is equally upsetting, but these things seem to happen that way. Anyway, I hope you get it all sorted, you are really on the right track and probably thought of way more than I would have in your position!
I agree with tedsmommy. Go to the store and tell them what happened and they will pull their cameras. Talk to the security guy, hopefully he's not just a jerk (sorry I used to work at a Target that had a jerk security).
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Hopefully you didn't have your ssn in there. That could lead to identity theft. But it sounds like someone just couldn't resist the opportunity to grab cash and credit cards. They will probably throw everything away when the cards no longer work.
So sorry this happened to you.
So sorry this happened to you! I would ask the police to call that gas station to see if they have video of the time your card was used. Usually gas stations have surveillance cameras on at all times. For the future - make a copy of everything you keep in your wallet - all credit cards, store cards, emergency numbers, etc... Keep this in a file at home, so if this ever happens again, you can pull it out and contact all the necessary places. We can never be too safe anymore, and it's a shame you can't trust to leave your desk for 20 minutes in your office! Good luck!
Oh how crappy.. I hate that other people do this stuff.. Did you have a check book in your wallet? Mine holds a check book, so make sure its not missing too. Put a block on any checks that might be missing. Did you have a dry cleaners ticket to pick up cleaning? How about a claim stub for any jewelry in for repair? What about your medical insurance card? AAA card, or road side service card? I really agree with the others who say you can see the tapes from the stores and you might recognize who went shopping on your dime. Its probably someone you worked with that day. Or a family member of theirs.
I'm so sorry that happened to you! It happened to me too. I don't remember having to wait for a police report before getting a new license? Maybe each state is different.
This won't help you now, but because the same thing happened to me I thought I'd share what I did in case it ever happened again. Once I got all my new cards, license, etc. I photocopied everything in my wallet. I put the copy in a safe place in my house. If my wallet ever goes missing again I will obviously know what credit cards were in there so I can cancel them all. I remember feeling the way you did - what am I missing, is there something else in my wallet that the thief is seeing that I should be worried about? Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about anyone showing up at your house. Most people who steal wallets want to use the credit cards before they're cancelled and then they'll move on to someone else's purse. Again, I'm sorry this happened to you!!
Oh, and I assume you didn't have your social security card in there? My husband carried his around in his wallet for years before we met, and then I told him that's the dumbest thing to do!!
Target records everything. I bet they have the thief/thieves on video.
