“I felt violated and victimized,†Harrine Freeman says of the day her purse was stolen from the passenger seat of her locked car at a Hyattsville, Maryland gas station in late July. No one at the busy corner station offered much information after the thief smashed a window and sped off with her house keys, checkbook, driver’s license, car insurance, vehicle registration, nearly $100 in cash, as well as her credit, ATM, and health insurance cards. “People were just looking at my car, but no one was saying anything,†Freeman says. “Later, the gas station clerk told me that the same thing happened to another woman the week before.â€
The car break-in led to a long battle against ID theft for Freeman. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports that nearly 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2008, a number expected to grow due to the shrinking economy. On average, victims lose between $851 and $1,378 out of pocket due to expenses related to identity theft and spend an average of 116 hours repairing the damage. In total, Freeman estimates she spent $2,000 and 100 hours on damage control so far. Here, Freeman, author of How to Get Out of Debt (Adept Publishing; $19.95) and CEO and owner of H.E. Freeman Enterprises, a personal finance service, shares the frustrations and lessons learned during her still unsolved case of identity theft and offers tips to use should you find yourself a victim of identity fraud.
“Luckily I still had my cell phone and was able to call the police and cancel everything but my checking account, which I had to close in-person the next day though I was able to flag the account for suspicious activity,†Freeman says. She filed an identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and placed fraud alerts with the credit reporting agencies, along with TeleCheck.
“I later filed complaints against my bank with the Better Business Bureau, the North Carolina Department of Justice Consumer Protection Agency as well as State of North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks where the bank is headquartered after I found out the thief was able to withdraw $3,000 from my new account even though you had to swipe a debit card and enter a secret code for every transaction,” she adds. “I’d already reported the potential for identity theft to the bank and found out a transaction for $1,200 was under investigation, but even knowing my situation, the bank still charged me $207 in insufficient funds fees.â€
And on top of that, Freeman had just paid my mortgage and all my bills, so she had checks bouncing and couldn’t access her money because the bank froze her account.
“I called the b
ank and the investigator for weeks trying to figure out how this could’ve happened, who was going to reimburse me and when. Out of frustration, I left a message for the president of the bank and someone called me back saying they’d take care of everything,†she says. “Ultimately, I got my $3,000 and the fees were reimbursed, but it shouldn’t have taken so long and I shouldn’t have been charged any fees since the bank knew my situation. The only reason I got as far as I did was because I started getting upset, something I wish I’d done sooner.â€Despite the experience, Freeman learned a valuable lesson about safeguarding her belongings.
“I’ve helped other people through identity theft before, so I wasn’t impacted as much as the average person. I still feel like I could never go back to feeling as secure about my personal information as I did before this happened, but I know for sure that I won’t be leaving my purse on the passenger seat of my car anymore.â€
Stop Thief!–Strategies for thwarting potential damage from identity theft
React quickly. Freeman believes that reporting your identity theft and canceling your accounts right away can help prevent thieves from draining your accounts and damaging your credit score.
File the right reports. Start with an in-person police report, followed by an online Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Complaint Form (www.ftc.gov), which the FTC shares with other law enforcement agencies. If local law enforcement refuses to take a report of your I.D. theft, ask for a miscellaneous incident report instead.
Take preventative measures. Place a free 90-day fraud alert on credit reports with the three major credit-reporting agencies. Once expired, use your police report to request seven-year extended fraud alert, and check your credit reports often for unauthorized activity.
Resources
Identity Theft Resource Center
Federal Trade Commission
Credit Reporting Agencies
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Innovis: 1-800-540-2505; Consumer Assistance, P.O. Box 1358, Columbus, OH 43216
Chex Systems: 1-800-428-9623; Consumer Relations, 7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100, Woodbury, MN 55125
Check Processing Systems
Telecheck: 1-800-710-9898; Fraud, Identity Theft and Forgery Division, 5251 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77056
BlackEnterprise.com’s Credit Card Predatory Practice Prevention Checklist