Mistakes Made--Lessons Learned

In early November our van was broken into and my purse was stolen. Here are some reminders so that hopefully anyone reading this can avoid my mistakes.

#1 If leaving your purse or valuables in your vehicle--keep it out of sight. (My purse was probably sitting on the front seat in plain view.)

#2 Don't carry your social security card in your billfold. (Why I had it there I don't know.)

#3 If at all possible--KEEP YOUR CHECKBOOK AT HOME. (I had heard on Money Matters that people will spend less if they pay cash than if they use their credit card--because this way they sense more the cost of something. This was a big part of my rationale for carrying a check book in my purse. Unfortunately I was carrying 3 checkbooks in my purse--one of which was my mother's as I often buy supplies for her. All three had just had new fillers of checks put in them.

Here's the reality--within less than two hours of the break in, the credit card companies realized that there was "unusual activity" on my cards, called our home#, and put a hold on the cards. Though the "break-in" individuals had amassed about $1500 of activity in that time period, none was charged to me. It was so simple to get the credit cards stopped and new ones with different account numbers reissued.

We closed out accounts at the three banks and new accounts were reissued. (My mom's account was with an Abilene bank, so my sister Donneta had a lot of work to do because there were direct deposits/withdrawals that had to be changed.) However, though accounts at a bank are closed this doesn't keep thieves from still writing on the existing checks. Many times a week I receive letters from collection agencies about these "returned checks". Each one requires me filling out an avadavit and having it notarized. A couple of businesses here in town have even accepted checks with a different name signed on them than my printed name on the check. (When I checked with the police detective he said that the name they are using on some of my checks is the name of another person whose vehicle they broke into. This poor individual have extra vehicle keys in her purse so they came back a couple days later and stole her vehicles.)

Both the banker and the police detective have told me not to carry a check book, so now they remain "at home". We have put fraud alerts on my name with the credit bureau and will do the same for my mother.

I have not had to pay anything for this other than a new van window, new purse, new billfold, etc. But many hours have been spent doing "damage control". Possible this reminder will help someone else avoid this disappointing event.

My next blog will record a happier event!