A Lesson Learned

Yesterday, I had a good long conversation with a friend that I don't see often. She has two kids just like I do but since they don't go to the same preschool, we don't get to see each other too often. While we were talking on the phone, she told me how her car was broken into just two days before and that her purse was stolen. She was telling me all the details and as it turns out, her vehicle is the same as mine (Tahoe) and it was in a parking lot that I park in about twice a day. Talk about close to home! She told me all sorts of tips that the police gave her to prevent this from happening again or to anyone else. I just thought I'd share some of these tips with you, if you don't mind.

*Never leave anything of value in your car. My friend had stuffed her purse under her car seat and it was completely not visible if you were to look in the window. She thought that was enough---but it wasn't. Someone was actually watching her get out of her car, and saw that she didn't have a purse with her. This is why they targeted her car specifically. Don't trust that if your purse or valuables aren't in view, that they are safe.

*Never carry your social security card or your check book with you. If these two things are stolen (especially your S.S. #) the identity theft could be completely un-fixable.

*Never write your pin number on your credit/debit cards. Just don't do it!!

*Call the police, your bank, and your credit card companies right away. The cops were able to catch the thieves in question because they purchased gift cards at various locations, including a local gas station. The police were able to put alerts on all the gift cards, so the cashiers could call the police if that gift card was used. Whoo-hoo, technology!

*Make copies of everything OR make a list of everything in your purse/wallet. Be sure you know who to call if this happens to you!

I very very often leave my purse in the middle of the two captains chairs in my truck. I just assume that by covering them with a blanket, I will be safe enough. Now, hearing how this theft happened somewhere I go all the time to someone I know, I am definitely going to be more cautious!!! I also wrongly assumed that usually men commit these crimes. The thieves that were arrested were a group of three working together: two women and a man. It's more likely that one of the women was the one who was watching my friend get out of her car without her purse. Once they had her purse, they went shopping right away--charging over $4000 within an hour. They even looked to see what her home phone number was (from her cell phone) and when asked what her number was at a store, one of the female thieves rattled off my friend's home number without blinking an eye! (They were able to see surveillance tapes from one of the stores). Talk about freaky!!! This may be a boring post, but I just want to make sure we all take precautions so this doesn't happen to anyone else.