My wallet was stolen.

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I'm not panicking yet.

I've called the local police department. I cancelled my credit cards and ATM card. I'll need to get a police report (tomorrow) and bring it to get a new ID card from my employer. I'll need to go to the DMV tomorrow to get a new driver's license. I'll need to figure out how to get new insurance cards.

I've lost a bit of money (a lot by my terms, but probably not a lot by most people's).

What else do I need to do? Please advise.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 5 May 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

You can call your insurance companies to request new cards. Other than that, I think you've got it covered. Get in touch with your bank/creditors to make sure that your cards weren't used after your wallet was stolen. Any idea how/when it happened? This happened to me when I was in Spain in 2001, and it sucks big time. You have my empathy, amateurist.

― hstencil, Monday, 5 May 2003 17:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Get in touch with your bank/creditors to make sure that your cards weren't used after your wallet was stolen.

Also, it might be a good idea to find out if any new accounts/credit cards have been opened in your name, since the the thief would likely have access to info. necessary to do this.

You have my sympathy too, Amateurist: being ripped off like that is terrible.

― Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 5 May 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Bad luck, and my sympathy. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you too badly.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 5 May 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

So far the worst part is waiting on the phone to reach "customer representatives" (was there ever a more dread-inducing phrase) at various institutions.

That and the fact that I'm losing as much money as I got selling all my CDs over the past two months. Fuck. I know this is very minor in the scheme of things.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 5 May 2003 17:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I had my purse stolen several years ago, and the most ridiculous thing I did was to run after the guy yelling, "hey, GIMME THAT!" as though he'd stop and say, "Oh I'm sorry, was this yours?"

Sorry to hear it, sug - hope you get it all squared away soon.

― luna (luna.c), Monday, 5 May 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

This must be really frustrating for you. Sorry to hear it.

To expand a bit on what Nicole said, you can call the credit bureaus (there are three) and get a credit watch put on your name so that
a)they'll send you credit reports (free, i had it done) and
b) they'll adjust things so that it's much harder for anyone to get credit in your name.

Link that might be helpful

That has the numbers for credit bureaus. Looks like there's a doc on having yr wallet stolen too.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Monday, 5 May 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks for this advice and for the link, which I'll peruse in a moment.

As for the credit burueas: It's what the woman at my bank said too. I called them, but their voice mail systems sounded suspiciously like they was just for show. I wonder if they'll actually do anything with my message. They promise to send me a "complimentary" copy of my credit report in the mail. Oh goody. Let's see if Columbia House came after me after all.

Turns out the guy (guy?) who stole my wallet tried to use one of my credit cards and it was confiscated, so before I could even call the company they contacted me. So hopefully this will all work out.

I just realized I also lost the $30 that was on my metro card. Shit.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 5 May 2003 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)

:-( Best of luck getting it all straightened out ASAP. The assclown will yet pay.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 May 2003 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

when the police catch him make him watch reservoir dogs for the next five years. that'll take care of him ;-)

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 5 May 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sorry amateurist. It sounds like you have all your bases covered. This happened to me once and it was absolutely horrible, because I was out of town at the time. So allow me to offer you my empathy.

On a more encouraging note, about four months after my wallet was stolen I got a letter from the police saying that my wallet (no money or credit cards left, of course) had turned up. By that time I'd replaced everything though.

― mouse, Monday, 5 May 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Make sure you cancel any library cards or video rental cards! The crook could be taking out books and watching movie you would have to pay for.

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 5 May 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I am so 21st century it's not even funny. The video stores around here don't use cards, and my libary card is my university/work card which I have already cancelled.

I'm really glad my ATM wasn't also a debit card.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 5 May 2003 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm so sorry to hear this. I had my purse stolen a few years ago and the most upsetting thing for me was losing the personal stuff that was in it (last photo of my Dad before he died, lock of his hair, that sort of thing) - useless and meaningless to a thief, but irreplaceable as far as I was concerned.

I think you've got all the bases covered with cancelling cards etc. It's just so horrid having it happen to you. Maybe they had a security video in the store where the guy tried to use your card, so maybe (just maybe) they might yet catch him.

Sending you commiserations and warm wishes.

― C J (C J), Monday, 5 May 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

(I am perversely amused by the idea of pickpockets storming the libraries with contraband library cards.)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:03 (twenty-two years ago)

(I say "perversely" because, in my imagination, the pickpockets are all wearing thongs and pasties.)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)

When normally it's the librarians. Er, wait.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:05 (twenty-two years ago)

(I hope you remembered that my mom's a librarian when you wrote that, otherwise I will lose all respect for you.)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Well now I've discovered that the thief tried to use both of my credit cards. One was immediately confiscated as noted above, the other simply didn't work even though he tried several times (one time he tried to use it over the phone). But I have the names and addresses of the places he tried to use it, and perhaps they caught him (I presume it's a him) on surveillance tape.

The places are all on the South Side, while my wallet was stolen on the Purple Line en route to Evanston. For those familiar with Chicago, this tells an old familiar story.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Give me some credit, Dan, please.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

My wallet was stolen a few years ago, but I was able to cancel all my credit cards and such in time before the thief tried to use them.

Shittiest part was that inside I had around $100 in cash and a ticket to the Stereolab concert that night that I was *just* about to go to. I spent the rest of the evening making phone calls to banks instead. Boo.

― Jen (nstop), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I was going to tell pessimistic theft-in-Chicago stories, but will spare you. From the stories I've heard, the police are too busy to be bothered by stolen wallet/jewelry/identity cases, even when there's compelling evidence. :(

Glad to hear you'd put the stop on the cards quickly enough that you have nothing to contest.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Were you pickpocketed, amateurist? (sorry to hear about this by the way--hope the incident doesn't mess you up too badly)

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 02:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Were you pickpocketed, amateurist?

Yeah! While I was dozing off on the train!

In episode 2 of Fantômas which I am watching again, some rich dude gets held up in his train car by masked thieves. Life becomes art becomes life!

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 03:32 (twenty-two years ago)

That's terrible. In the future you should keep mousetraps in your pockets.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 03:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Well now I've discovered that the thief tried to use both of my credit cards

and they better not be rockin' no new Iversons.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 6 May 2003 11:23 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

I lost my wallet today.

No cash (I really never carry cash, and if I do, it's kept separately), but my debit card, credit card, drivers' licence, Social Security card, ATM receipts (which have my balance on them), and student IDs. I do have fraud protection on the cards.

So should I cancel everything, or give it a few days in case everything turns up? All I have now is a passport and a credit card (good thing I waited before I activated the new one). Is that enough to get by on? What should I do about instances where I would need cash (like cover charges), or getting pulled over while driving?

― naus (Robert T), Saturday, 1 July 2006 04:42 (nineteen years ago)

Cancel everything straight away.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Saturday, 1 July 2006 05:02 (nineteen years ago)

Are your banks open today? If you have other forms of ID (and you do, you have your passport), you should be able to withdraw some cash over the counter (you can certainly do this in the UK, as I found out to my relief when it took over a week for the bank to issue my replacement cards). If your banks are closed at the weekend, borrow off family/friends/flatmate then go to the bank on Monday to replace the money you borrowed and get some extra to cover you.

Alternatively, do you have the facility anywhere to withdraw cash on your credit card? (we have a PIN for our credit card for just this eventuality)

Notify the police - you'll need reports for the insurance company if any fraud occurs. And it also means there's a note on your record if you are pulled over by the police. And cancel your bank cards straight away. The annoyance of finding them when they're cancelled is a lot less annoying than finding out that some bastard has emptied your account of money in the time it took you to cancel your cards*.

* voice of experience

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 1 July 2006 08:08 (nineteen years ago)

So I was able to cancel my debit card, and the only things I'm worried about are my social security card (why did I carry it with me?), my student IDs (no more discounts!), and my Communist Party USA membership card (wouldn't want that to come up in 20 years when I'm running for president).

― naus (Robert T), Saturday, 1 July 2006 19:07 (nineteen years ago)

Also: my "buy nine and get the tenth free" card for the coffee shop, which had eight stamps on it, and the one for the boba place that had five.

(and i've never voted Communist, it's just fun to pull it out when accused of being a commie during an argument. Not that Marxism is bad, but Bolshevism is kinda bunk.)

― naus (Robert T), Saturday, 1 July 2006 19:11 (nineteen years ago)

Our car was broken into and my husband's wallet was stolen in a state park in Maine. Not only were the police totally uninterested, but they didn't offer to let us use their phone, so he had to use a payphone in a noisy bar across the street from the police station (before we had cellphones? No service? I forget) to cancel the cards. The company reps all insisted on knowing the number of the card. Uh, yeah, let me just read it off of this CARD THAT I DON'T HAVE!!!!!!

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 2 July 2006 00:14 (nineteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

things stolen from car today in SF:
- CD player
- book of 20-odd CDs (including Rumours!!!!!)
- my fucking cell phone

― Dominique, Friday, 15 June 2007 01:38 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

so the events of the last two hours:
• leave my recently purchased Argentinian wallet on the counter at Timmies
• return, literally, two minutes later to find it gone
• manger shows me video of an elderly asian woman behind me picking it up and leaving
• get to work - cancel my cards call the cops (who were to call me back to do the report)
• get a phone call from a woman named BK (yes, like Burger King) at the GI clinic a neighbourhood over from me claiming to have my wallet. apparently a patient turned it in with my $45 still in there
• cop calls me back and is as confused as i am
• get driven by my boss to the hospital where BK hands me my wallet - everything still in it - and refuses the $20 i offer her as thanks. apparently the elderly woman did not trust the employees at Timmies

― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Tuesday, 9 December 2008 16:53 (seventeen years ago)

Hurrah!

― Holden McGroin (Ned Trifle II), Tuesday, 9 December 2008 22:21 (seventeen years ago)

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