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NCshopper


Hermes

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What do I need to do next?
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UGH!  I've never been through this before, so hopefully you all can tell me what I need to do.

I just had an awful night.  I got to the gym around 5:40 p.m., changed my clothes and hopped on a bike at 5:50 with just enough time for a warm-up prior to our 6:00 session with our trainer.  We worked out for an hour and had a great workout and stopped at about 6:55 to allow for enough time to go out to the car and give our trainer a case of free beer that I had gotten. 

So I went to my locker to get my car keys and I couldn't find my purse and backpack, which I'd locked in a locker with my combination lock.  I got one of the girls from the front desk to help me look through all the lockers in the locker room and couldn't find anything.
As soon as we searched the place, my husband immediately called our bank to cancel my debit card, which hadn't been used, then we called to cancel my credit card, then American Express to cancel my work credit card.
What we found out was interesting:
At 6:10 p.m., $1,726 was charged at Target on my work credit card.
At 6:13 p.m., another $640 was charged at Target on that card.
At 6:15 p.m., $1,600 was charged to Target on my personal credit card.
At 6:42 p.m., $424 was charged to Wal-Mart on my work credit card, but it was declined.
At 6:43 p.m., $424 was charged at Wal-Mart on my personal credit card, but it was also declined.
At 6:45 p.m., another $1,600 was charged at Best Buy on my personal credit card.

So, we've cancelled my cards, changed the locks on the house, disabled my Blackberry, filed a police report, etc, etc. 

I'm just pissed.  Apparently, a guest checked into the gym under the name "Jane Smith" from Louisville, KY and when the guy at the front desk later checked out the address she listed, it was a false address.  And she had also asked the girl at the front desk if there was any good shopping around here, like a Neimans or a Saks. 

So apparently, she saw me come in and either cut the lock on my locker or watched me dial in my combination and took my stuff within minutes of me leaving the locker room.  I'm pissed because she got my black Hayden-Harnett purse, my red Coach wallet, my brand new Blackberry, my iPod, the DVD set I just bought for my nephew that I had in my purse, and my red star Coach keychain that my mom gave me years ago as a gift.  I'm SO MAD!  I'm going to see if I can file a claim tomorrow to see if I can recoup my losses under my homeowners insurance (we'll see).

I'm still a bit freaked because this chick now has keys to my car and my husband's car, knows where we live based off of my driver's license, and knows where I work because of my business cards.  The police officer said these people typically aren't stalker-types, but I'm still a bit bugged out.  It helps that we changed the locks though.
I'm drinking some scotch now, but what else do I need to do to protect myself from fraud?  My social security card is locked away at home and nothing I had had that written down, but I'm afraid that there's a lot of damage that could be done.


-- Edited by NCshopper at 22:44, 2008-08-04

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esquiress


Marc Jacobs

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You POOR THING!!! I would feel so VIOLATED. Honestly, what is wrong with people? Some people have no decency.

I don't really have any advice, I think you've done all you can. The cc companies should take the charges right off as it's clearly a case of identity theft.

I'm just so sorry you had to go through this. And I can't help but hope that something really bad happens to little miss jane smith. The premeditated nature of it all just makes me sick.

xoxo and feel better!

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Marc Jacobs

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Oh my goodness! And I thought I was having a bad night. I can't think of anything else that you need to do either. I'm sure the cops are right and this was just a standard theft but it is really scary to know that this woman has your keys and knows where you live and work.
Hope the scotch helps a bit.

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Miss Mabel


Kenneth Cole

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Oh, I am so sorry! That is terrible. And the way that it happened (it sounds like she saw your cute stuff and targeted you) makes it that much worse.

If it's any comfort, I had a friend who had a similar experience -- except she did have her social security number in her wallet and her situation did proceed to full identity theft with new accounts being opened, etc. -- and it never progressed to anything more annoying/scary than the initial headaches of calling her card company, filing a police report, etc. I think there is a centralized agency that deals with identity theft, and once you report it, they take over everything to make it as easy as possible for you.

I can definitely understand being worried about the house and cars, but I think the way she stole from you indicates that she's more about "petty" crimes. She had your keys, so she technically could have stolen your car from the gym, right?

Good luck!

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Hermione


Kate Spade

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Good for you for acting quickly - you should be able to recoup all of those charges, and I'm crossing my fingers that you'll at least get the cost of the items you lost (though I know what you mean about the keychain, stuff like that is not really replaceable) through your insurance.

I worked for a financial planner in college and we saw alot of this kind of stuff - I think the police are right, these people just move fast to get as much as they can and then are on to the next one. Also sounds like maybe the gym should have some liability - I wanted to take a tour of a gym and couldn't do it without showing ID - how was this girl able to get in under a fake name and address?


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NCshopper


Hermes

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Hermione wrote:
Also sounds like maybe the gym should have some liability - I wanted to take a tour of a gym and couldn't do it without showing ID - how was this girl able to get in under a fake name and address?
Apparently, the owner and the general manager of the gym are going to call me tomorrow.  I don't expect them to assume responsibility, but it'd be nice if they did.  The owner's wife was there pretty much when I found out what had happened and she was as nice as can be.  Anyway, I'm not expecting them to cover the costs and I'm thinking I set my insurance deductible pretty high, so I think I might just have to pay for this out of pocket over time.  Yuck!


Oddly enough, when the thief took my purse, she left my backpack and then put another lock back on the locker that I had used with my backpack inside the locker.  The owner's wife eventually found some bolt cutters and she and I both had to lean into the damn thing to snap the lock that the thief had put on.  So I'm not sure exactly how this thief got a pair of bolt cutters into the locker room and proceeded to cut it off, so I'm thinking more and more that she had to have looked over my shoulder as I was doing my combination.  Ugh...creepy!

At least the scotch is helping...



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Hermione


Kate Spade

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I do think that the gym should have some responsibility. And if I were you, I wouldn't feel bad about it - their insurance should cover it - the only out I can imagine they'd have is if they have a sign saying something like "not responsible for lost or stolen items," but like I said, the check-in thing is weird.
I bet they'll change their process now!

You must feel so violated. I'm so sorry this happened to you.

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FashionPrincess


Hermes

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Ok, my dh said to contact the asset protection manager at the walmart, they potentially have video of the person checking out. I guess some stores have high quality video of all check outs. So sorry that happened to you!!!

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Hermione


Kate Spade

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that's a really good suggestion fp!

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jettie


Kate Spade

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That is just awful. I still can't believe how people do things like that and can still sleep at night. Sounds like you've done all the things you need to. Good luck.

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Cortney1982


Chanel

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I wouldn't worry about anything.  I hear about this all the time.  These people are professionals and move quickly.  Once they've done all the damage they can do on your cards, they toss them and move on to the next.  They aren't going to stick around to get caught!

"Jane Smith" how orignial!  I know a lot of people probably have that name but obviously she is an out of towner since she asked about the shopping so that should have been a big red flag to the receptionist.

And damn, don't cashiers think it should be necessary to check ID on large purchases?  Wouldn't they want somebody else to do the same for them?

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cahabo


Kate Spade

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Were these purchases online or in store? Seem too close together to actually be on foot. I can just imagine her running through the stores and from store to store like a race or something! If these were actually store purchases it would be freaking ridiculous that she could get away without the cashiers checking for ID considering how very large these purchases are.

Anyhow, sorry you had to go through this. What a NIGHTMARE!

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Hermione


Kate Spade

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Maybe she picked NCShopper because of the same color and length hair or something, I don't think they check IDs that closely.

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Suasoria


Chanel

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Oh, you poor thing. I agree about the unlikeliness of further messes from this person. If you're bugged by it anyway, you might want to find out if getting your car locks changed would be covered by insurance. Seems like it would be a good idea to let Social Security know about it just in case.

I am guessing these were online purchases based on the timing? If so, could the police get the shipping address(es)?



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NCshopper


Hermes

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Thanks everyone. I'm doing pretty well today, just exhausted from not sleeping well and exhausted from dealing with it.

It turns out they were actually all in store purchases. These people knew what they wanted and they got it fast. I think these are people that have done this before and I think there were at least two of them because there were purchases made at two Target stores at exactly the same time. What did they buy? So far it looks like they bought 6 iPod Touches and I'm still waiting to hear back from another store about what they bought. Since no one needs 6 iPod Touches, I'm thinking this was an organized effort and they're being resold.

All in all, I feel like I've got most everything taken care of. I still need to decide if I want to file an insurance claim, since to replace everything in my purse would be over the $1,000 deductible. I'll make that decision tomorrow--I'm spent for the day.

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Hermione


Kate Spade

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I would file with your insurance and then see if the gym's insurance can help you recoup your deductible.

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Kitty


Hermes

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Oh my god! That is awful! I recently went through hell with fraudulent charges on one of my credit cards and I know how awful it can be. I'm just so sorry to hear this!

You should definitely put alerts on your credit report so that if she tries to open any new cards she won't be able to. It sucks that she managed to take so much (purse, wallet, etc.) but I think your biggest concern at this point is to avoid any kind of identity theft.



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Alegria


Kate Spade

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No other advice but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that this happened to you. I know how violated you must feel. My identlity got stolen once so please be careful.

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NCshopper


Hermes

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I've cancelled my cards and then called Experian, Equifax, and Transunion last night to put a freeze on my SSN, so that's giving me piece of mind. I'm also going to look into some credit monitoring services to see if I can track my stuff for the next year or so.

As far as the gym goes, they've been super nice. I talked to the GM today and the owner and they're paying for 2 months of our membership and three training sessions with our trainer, which is awfully nice of them. They're also going to be in touch with the detective and whatnot, so they're really doing all they can for me and I'm very pleased.

Things are looking up finally.

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Alikat


Kate Spade

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I just wanted to say I'm really sorry this happened! I'm glad your gym is taking some responsibility... I can't believe that this happened to you. The thieves sound like professionals.

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