I Lost My Purse!!!

Losing your purse usually includes losing your wallet along with other important items such as your driver's license and voter's card. I suffered this unfortunate scenario last December. My purse was stolen with all my credit cards, nursing license, Social Security card, health insurance card and numerous other items some I can't even recall. Worst of all my car keys and house keys were also included. Did I mention my make up kit was also included? Can you imagine a lady with out her make up kit?

Panic attack is a mild word to describe how I reacted; knowing that some one was in possession of all my valuable information and my personal privacy was violated. Luckily I tend to work best under pressure. I immediately took the following steps.

I called the police; they came promptly and took a police report. This included my personal information, description of my purse and the content it included? I received a police report card from them that was helpful in allowing me to replace my driver's and nursing licenses and other items without a fee, if I submitted a copy of the police report in my application. The police advised me to call the credit card companies immediately.

Luckily for me I had recently requested and gotten my credit reports from all three nation wide consumer reporting companies. I was able to use this information to contact the credit card companies. The credit card companies canceled my accounts and re-issued new cards in a few days. That was the easy part.

The car had to be re-keyed; the house locks had to be changed. It happened on a Sunday afternoon, re-keying the car was not going to happen that day. That was a night when you sleep with one eye open hoping the car will not be stolen and that no one is going to break into the home. That evening I applied for Life Lock the #1 rated identification protection agency in America. Once I did that I felt a sense of relief.

What Did I Learn from this Experience?
Make an inventory list of all your credit cards.

Decrease your credit cards to one or two.

Remove all items from your purse that is not necessary to take around with you on a routine basis.

Make a list and/or make copies or take pictures of your cards and other documents and keep them in a safe place.
I have put this plan into action and I feel a lot better now that I have done it.

The Federal Trade Commission website has excellent information about how to protect your identity and what to do if you lose your purse or wallet.
Visit at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pub/credit/idcrisis.shtm

Nation Wide Consumers Reporting Companies Information are:
Equifax 1-800-525-6285 P.O. Box740241, Atlanta, GA 303-0241

Experian 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742 P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TranUnion 1-800-680-7289 Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92834-6790