Mom's credit, etc. cards have been stolen; what should she do about her credit score?

Question

My mom, who owns a dry cleaning store in Oakland, was recently the victim of a thief and had her purse stolen. She lost her credit, debit, and ATM cards because of this, and while Mom and I have managed to freeze the accounts of the cards affected, she's still afraid that the thieves may attempt to use her cards for purchases that she did not authorize. A police officer was kind enough to suggest that we look up "ID theft prevention" at the sites for Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, and even wrote down the number of the police report in case we needed it. Unfortunately, I've looked at the sites, and they can only help us if we have a customer account with them, which we do not. I don't know what to do, and there isn't a way to contact them online unless I'm a customer of theirs, and mail is the only option left. My mom's getting REALLY anxious over this, and she wants to resolve this as soon as possible; what should we do?

Answer 1

your credit card companies and banks should protect you as long as you reported them stolen... other than that all I can say is keep ahold of the police report and good luck

Answer 2

Okie, dokie...  Since the credit cards are frozen, no one should be able to use them.  If someone tries, it should show as declined and alert the person taking the card that there is a problem.  Next - if you go to www.fraudalerts.equifax.com you will be able to put a 90 day fraud alert on your moms credit file.  This will keep anyone from being able to establish credit or accounts in her name with out some one directly contacting her to confirm she is aware of what is going on!  It will be shared with the other 2 credit agencies too...  I know this won't fix everything, but I hope it will at least give you and your mom some recourse and peace of mind.  Good luck...

Answer 3

It happened to me once. I instantly called my credit card issuer and asked them to freeze  my account. They canceled that credit card and sent me a replacement with a new number and everything. There is nothing else to worry about once you have reported your card stolen, the stolen card becomes useless, so if you did so, you will be fine.

After that day I only carry my debit card which is insured by the bank, and take the credit card only when I actually need it.

Answer 4

well what the freeze means is it is actualy called hot carded....so that when they go to use the card it tells the person the card is stolen then they can call the cops...in addition most credit cards offer identity protection insurance and hopefully your mom has used that....so that if they do use the card and it is authorized your mom is not responsible for the bill...in the mean time to h**l will freezing accounts....if it is credit card tell them to close the account and transfer balances over to a new account w/ a new number...the checking/debit card...also hot card that account....wait till all checks are cleared and that too should be closed...in the meantime open a new account w/ new cards....if there was a social security card in the purse have a new card w/ a new number issued as well...that is as easy as going to your local social security office or calling for the paper work...it really isn't that hard to do...STRESSFUL as can be....and you feel totally VIOLATED....i went through this before...happened through ebay....it was a pain the in the butt....but i did all of this and my credit is fine...

Answer 5

Joshua is correct except for the last part. A debit card is not the same as a credit card. If you want to put the accounts on fraud alert, you have to unfreeze the accounts to put it on. Go to annualcreditreport.com or call them toll free @ 1-877-322-8228 for all 3 free reports to make sure there is nothing new on the reports. Then you can call Trans Union Fraud Dept toll free @ 1-800-680-7289. They will notify the other 2 agencies for you but has to be renewed every 90 days as stated. You then put the "freeze" back on the credit report if you wish.

Answer 6

If the accounts are frozen, then the cards would be declined if the thief tries to use them. If they made any purchases before the accounts were frozen, you can contact your credit card companies and tell them which transactions aren't yours - usually they will waiver transactions that were made by the thief. Unfortunately, with ATM cards they can't give you the cash back that was stolen if the thief used cash-back or took money out of an ATM (you need a PIN number for both so it is doubtful).

I would be more concerned if they got a hold of your SSN (unfortunately, a lot of people keep their SSN cards in their wallets which is a terrible idea) because they can open up new credit card accounts/bank accounts/etc under your name and RUIN your credit in the process.

Answer 7

Call the credit card company IMMEDIATELY and have them all canceled. That will protect your credit rating and likely ensure that you don't have to pay for any illegal charges that are made. Credit card companies are insured for that kind of stuff and can often prove helpful in catching the person who stole them.