THIS IS WHAT HE ADVISES
But here's some critical information to limit
the damage in case this
happens to you or someone you know. As everyone
always advises, cancel your
credit cards immediately, but the key is having
the toll free numbers and
your card numbers handy so you know who to
call. Keep those where you can
find them easily (having to hunt for them is
additional stress you WON'T
need at that point!).

File a police report immediately in the
jurisdiction where it was stolen,
this proves to credit providers you were
diligent, and is a first step
toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important (I
never ever thought to do
this): Call the three national credit reporting
organizations immediately
to place a fraud alert on your name and SS#. I
had never heard of doing
that until advised by a bank that called to
tell me an application for
credit was made over the Internet in my name.
The alert means any company
that checks your credit knows your information
was stolen and they have to
contact you by phone to authorize 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 knew about before
placing the alert). Since then, no new damage
has been done, and the
thieves threw my wallet away this weekend
(someone turned it in). It seems
to have stopped them in their tracks. The
numbers are:

Equifax 1-800 525-6285; 1-800-882-0648;
1-800-270-3435
Experian (formerly TRW) 1-800-301-7195;
1-888-397-3742
Trans Union 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration has a fraud line
at 1-800-269-0271
Federal Trade Commission 1-877-438-4338

We pass along jokes, we pass along just about
everything....do think about
passing this information along .... it could
help someone else. One more
thing I'd add to the list is NOT to carry your
SS# in your wallet at all!!!
With that and your driver's license, they can
steal your entire identity!