credit card alert

[Guest guest]

My girlfriend had her wallet stolen & found out about it when one of the credit card companies called her asking about a 1,700.00 purchase. This was right before Christmas so she has said the same thing about making copies. It's hard to remember all your credit cards etc.

Susiecue

This actually IS pretty good advice, especially photocopying everything.Maybe print out this email too with the phone numbers and keep it handy.Besides the financial side of it, there recently has been a hugeincrease in what is called "identity theft" . L.....................GOOD ADVICE Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sidesof each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. A corporate attorney sent this out to the employees in his company. Ipass it along, for your information. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed us in yourname, address, SS#, credit, etc. Unfortunately I (the author of this piece who happens to be an attorney)have firsthand knowledge, because my wallet was stolen last month andwithin a week the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phonepackage, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved tobuy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change mydriving record information online, and more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case thishappens to you or someone you know. As everyone always advises, cancelyour credit cards immediately, but the key is having the toll freenumbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep thosewhere you can find them easily. File a police report immediately in thejurisdiction where it was stolen, this proves to credit providers youwere diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if thereever is one). But here's what is perhaps most important: (I never ever thought to dothis) Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately toplace a fraud alert on your name and SS#. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called totell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows yourinformation was stolen and they have to contact you by phone toauthorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost 2 weeks after the theft,all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves'purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw mywallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to havestopped them in their tracks. The numbers are: Equifax: 1- Experian (formerly TRW): 1- Trans Union: 1- Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1- We pass along jokes; we pass along just about everything. Do think aboutpassing this information along. It could really help someone.