Robbed!!

Today's gripe: I was robbed.
I parked my car at Alf Sorenson at about 8:00, and sat inside the door while Anjeanette went swimming. I left my purse sitting on the floor in the front (stupid!!) because I was right inside the lobby, and I could see my car, but I wasn't looking at it. When I went out to my car, the window was busted, and my purse was gone. One of the kids who work at the community center was parked next to me and was already on the phone calling the police. I talked to the police, and they said that they wouldn't be able to send someone for an hour or so, but I could drive to the police station and give a statement there. So I drove to the police station, where I met a useless lady who said, "Well, who told you to come here? We don't have a desk officer to take your statement tonight. You have to come back in the morning after 8:00 a.m. That was thirty minutes I could and should have spent calling my credit card companies. Don't most crimes happen at night!? Shouldn't there be some police around the police station, and around town for that matter?

I spent all of the next day changing locks, and accounts, vacuuming up glass, making appointments and making phone calls. Scary part was that I had no money, and no ID. Luckily the bank was able to take care of things fairly quickly and get me some money out of my account. I got $100, and thought it would keep me going for a couple days. (HA!!) I spent that on the locksmith and had to go back to the bank and get $300 more to pay the guy who came to fix my window the next day and a $100 to get by. Then I went shopping to give myself some down time and spent all of that money on fabric. Borrowed another $100 from mom and spent that within two days. It's amazing to realize how much money I spend.

So here is my advice to everyone, and I hope no one ever needs it.

The Police : Call the police first, but don't waste time waiting for them or going to fill out a report. Call your credit card companies before you fill out a police report.

Social Security: The Social Security Office does not take fraud reports. They will send you a form SS5 to request a new Social Security Card, but that is all, and you'll only talk to the robot. They'll tell you to call 1-877-438-4338 or go online to www.consumer.gov/idtheft. They'll want a police report number, so do that first. Call your credit card companies first.

Credit Agencies: You can call any of the credit reporting agencies and they'll share the Fraud report with the others. I called Equifax 1-800-525-6285.

Insurance: If you are broken into in a business parking lot, make sure you file a loss report with the business, their insurance may cover some of your loss. They need your police report number too. My insurance broke the incident into two parts. The break-in was covered by my car insurance (the window replacement was less than my $250 deductible), and the loss of my purse was covered by my homeowner's insurance (again my loss was less than the $500 deductible.) By the way - Call your credit card companies first.

Bank: I couldn't go to the bank until the next morning. That stressed me out. I couldn't find a number to call to cancel my bank card either which was even more stressful. I called the customer service number I found on my bank statement, and fortunately they had a recording which gave me a phone number to call if my card had been lost or stolen. I called that number, and they were very helpful, and were able to cancel all 4 of my visas and mastercards. Then I only had to take care of a discover card and a department store card.

Good Luck