Do Not Leave Your Purse Behind

Having your identity stolen is no laughing joke for anyone. A few years ago I went out with a couple friends to a club to have a few drinks and to dance. Since I planned on dancing, I did not want to take my purse in with me. Who wants to dance and hold on to a purse at the same time? I had left my purse in my car before, so I figured it was going to be okay doing it again. I grabbed my driver’s license to get in the club along with some cash for my drinks. I had a good time that night until it was time to leave and we found my friend’s car broken into. When we walked up to her car, the window was shattered and our purses were gone.

I automatically panicked because in my purse was my wallet with my bank cards, credit cards, pictures and not to mention my keys to my house and car. That night began a nightmare that lasted over a week. When I got home I immediately got on the phone to report my bank card stolen. It was a Friday night and I was hoping that a block was going to be put on my card. Since I had online banking, I logged in my bank account to see if anyone had used my card. Within a few hours charges were being made on my bank card. See it was one of those ATM cards that had a Visa logo on it. My card was being used at multiple gas stations for different amounts of money. I was thinking “how much gas is this person going to buy with my card”. See, if it was a credit card it may have been different, but this was my actual hard earned money that I was seeing being spent. I got a few hours of sleep that night and when I woke up I went back online to see how much more damage was made to my bank account. I seen that they had went to a drugstore and even out to eat. I was getting mad because I had reported my card stolen and it was still being used. I was also mad at the fact that someone was using my card and obviously they were not being asked for their ID.

The spending rampage went on all weekend until Monday when the banks were open for business. I was so surprised that my call reporting my card stolen did not stop my card from being used. By that Monday morning, they had spent almost $2,000 out of my bank account. I tried calling the places they used my card asking to view the video surveillance tapes, but nobody was helpful. They told me that only the police were going to be able to view their cameras.

It was now Tuesday or Wednesday and I went to my bank to file a report that I was not the one using the card. They made me sign an affidavit stating that I did not make the charges on my account so my money would be refunded. Luckily the bank has some sort of insurance protection for this type of situation. It took about two weeks for my money to be refunded bank into my account.

The thieves did not stop there. They had my check book and decided to order pizza from a couple different pizza parlors. To this day, my name is still in a check systems database and I am unable to write a check at certain stores because I refuse to pay for the thieves pizza. Luckily about a week and a half after my purse was stolen, the thieves tried to use my checks at a check cashing store. They tried to forge my name and cash a check for $400. I was contacted by the police and was asked if I wanted to press charges. Of course, I said yes.

Now I received my money back that the thieves spent, but I did not have access to my money for over 2 weeks. Being a single mom at that time, this put a big damper on my life. I now know to never leave my purse in my car. If I don’t want to carry it, I simply leave it at home.

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