November 16, 2008

Preemptive Identity Theft Protection, in Reactive Mode

Last month I lost my wallet for the second time in my life. The first was over 20 years ago in the Rockefeller Library (the Rock) at Brown University. That time the wallet was returned, with the cash. Not so lucky this time, as it was lost (or pinched) in the NYC Transit system.

The contents of the wallet I lost last month:

• 1 Drivers License
• 2 Credit Cards
• 1 Bank card
• 1 Social Security Card (I actually had a reason to be carrying it that day, although I do feel like an idiot now since I've had the number memorized since I was 16)
• Sundry membership cards for PMI, AAA, USATC, museums, etc
• Wallet-sized photos, including one of my cherished grandmother that I had not duplicated

I had to travel down to Philadelphia the next day for a conference, so needless to say I was anxious about the situation. Identity theft can happen with just a few of these pieces of identification. Having all this information in one place was a serious lapse in judgement on my part.

Here are the steps I took:

• Reported the loss to my bank and to the credit card companies, who then reissued new cards/numbers - Recovery time took 2-3 business days, all-in
• Called the following three credit reporting organizations to put a lock on my credit:

1. Equifax: 800-525-6285
2. Experian (formerly TRW): 800-397-3742
3. Trans Union: 800-679.6278

• Called the Social Security Administration Fraud Line, but figured out after a series of messages that there wasn't much to be done since there's no proactive protection service offered by SSA
• Upon returning from Philadelphia, stopped by the NYC Department of Motor Vehicles Express location on 34^th Street and 8^th Avenue (brought Passport for proof of ID): New drivers license came within 2 weeks
• Stopped by the NYPD precinct above-ground to where I lost my wallet so as to file a police report. A note: I have never experienced such great customer service as with NYPD - they actually called back a few times over the ensuing days to ask some additional clarifying questions and to see if I had detected any misuse of my credit cards (Go NYPD!)
• Purchased an annual plan with Equifax (www.equifax.com) for their "ID Patrol" Service. This offering does the following:

1. Allows the user to lock/unlock credit with an ultra-secure platform
2. Tracks use of credit cards anywhere, and reports that usage at monetary increments that the user sets
3. Reports to the user any use of social security card online or otherwise
4. Immediate reports if there is any suspected misuse of credit

• Purchased a handsome new Swiss Army wallet similar to the one I had previously
• Upon restoring normalcy, I took the opportunity to photocopy all important identification cards then stored them in a secure place

This mishap was a real wakeup call for me. I stood to lose a great deal - if even only in the short term - had that personal information fallen into the wrong hands. I figured I'd post my experiences, since I was as thorough as I could be. If anyone has any other such experiences and wants to share additional precautions that you've taken, please comment below.  Thanks in advance!

Posted at 09:06 pm by Joseph Bachana

Add comment

• IDEAlliance Webinar on Innovations in Multichannel Publishing 02/08/2012 - 15:01
• On Measuring the Progress of your Digital Asset Management system rollout 02/07/2012 - 13:14
• Drupal 8 Goals Emerging - Interview of Dries Buytaert by Ron Miller 01/21/2012 - 17:29
• Apple iBooks Author and The Walled Content Garden 01/20/2012 - 12:59
• Ten Best Practices in Requirements Analysis 10/06/2011 - 01:55
• Do PMPs make Good IT Project Managers? 08/31/2011 - 13:37
• Observations in IT Best Practices: Involving your Stakeholders 08/30/2011 - 15:43
• Critique of Adweek article by Erin Griffith on "CMS Woes" 08/22/2011 - 23:26
• Article on CMSWire.com about Adobe's Aspirations into Customer Experience Management 08/20/2011 - 00:34
• Observations in IT Best Practices: Aim Before You Shoot 08/01/2011 - 12:46