Lost my walley w/ SS card

HMS B1tch

I lost my wallet with around $250 and my credit card, license, and my social security card. Why was my social security card in my wallet, you ask? Well, I'm a dumbass. I needed it for something like a job application and I forgot to put it back in a safe place.

What do I do about someone potentially stealing my identity? I did everything to try and find it - contacted police, retraced steps, searched car and apt. high and low. How do I protect myself in the case of someone abusing my info?

Quid

Contact the CC company and tell them the card is missing for one.

Chalkbot

I was wondering why he had incense in his wallet, then I realized it was because I'm a dumbass.

chaosisorder

If you know where you lost it, file a lost property report with your local police station. It helps if later anything goes wrong. Also, if one of your CCs offers a credit report monitoring, get it and keep an eye on it. Otherwise, just make sure you're getting your yearly free report and look carefully at your SS yearly statements.

oldsak

Well there's lifelock if you're worried about someone using your ss# to steal your identity.

Also you can replace your card with these instructions.

I just realized, I have no idea wheremy card is. I'll probably find it when i move.

Buttcleft

Are you not supposed to carry your SS card with you?

Quid

Buttcleft wrote: »

Are you not supposed to carry your SS card with you?

It's generally supposed to be a number only known by you so not really. There's no good reason to and you're more likely to lose your wallet than your file cabinet.

HMS B1tch

I canceled my credit card, so that's not such a big deal. But with a lost SS card and license, someone could really fuck me over if they knew what they were doing. Is there nothing I can do about it?

DragonPup

Do you live in the US? Contact the 3 credit agencies(experian, equifax, and transunion) and place a fraud alert for yourself ASAP. IIRC, you can do all 3 of them online. Also, go here to learn about replacing the card.

illig

and it may be worth signing up for one of those credit monitoring services for a few months... $20/month is small change when compared to thousands in bills that someone may charge in your name

EggyToast

Not that it makes what happened to you any better, but most identity thefts are from a) people who know you or b) online thieves who do it "in bulk." Your average street criminal, or unsavory person who finds your wallet, will take the money and throw the cards & wallet away. Well, they may try to charge lunch on it (since many places don't make you sign for under $20) but once it doesn't work (and they have to use cash) they'll just throw it away).

Having another person's SS# will probably make them curious -- who is this person, and how can I get money out of this? -- but one single SSN isn't worth anything. And to seriously use it to steal someone's identity requires a certain level of sophistication that your average unsavory fellow won't have.

That's not to say that you shouldn't contact the 3 credit agencies, cancel the credit cards, and request a new card from the social security administration. But it's similar to losing your keys somewhere -- yes, it sucks, and yes, someone could get into your house, but the likelihood of a criminal testing keys in various locks is so unlikely that it won't happen. Although that's why it's wise to not put identifying marks (like an address) on your keychain!

TexiKen

Call the 3 agencies and put a fraud alert request on your behalf.

Also, was it your SS card or your selective service card? Getting your selective service card is relatively more easy to replace than the SS card.

Shadowfire

Agreeing with everyone's recommendations here, but I have to ask... is there any reason to replace your card? I shredded mine years ago, and I've had no reason to have it.

kaliyama

Shadowfire wrote: »

Agreeing with everyone's recommendations here, but I have to ask... is there any reason to replace your card? I shredded mine years ago, and I've had no reason to have it.

uh...it's good to have for doing your I9 if you lose your passport.

TexiKen

Sometimes they want to see your SS card for renewing your drivers license after so many years. I know when I renewed my license last year, I saw 2 women have to come back with their SS card. They tried to do the same with me, but I was able to use my selective service card.

wasted pixels

Let me quickly swoop in and recommend against LifeLock. They don't provide any services which aren't readily, freely available, their "$1,000,000 insurance policy" is dubious, and they've been fighting off both class actions and a lawsuit from Experian itself for a while now. It's also worth noting that the CEO's identity has been successfully stolen at LEAST once since launching their infamous "My social security number is..." campaign, and the co-founder is a known fraudster who cooked up the idea for the company while he was in prison.

Shadowfire

wasted pixels wrote: »

Let me quickly swoop in and recommend against LifeLock. They don't provide any services which aren't readily, freely available, their "$1,000,000 insurance policy" is dubious, and they've been fighting off both class actions and a lawsuit from Experian itself for a while now. It's also worth noting that the CEO's identity has been successfully stolen at LEAST once since launching their infamous "My social security number is..." campaign, and the co-founder is a known fraudster who cooked up the idea for the company while he was in prison.

To be fair, his identity getting stolen was along the lines of a credit card with a low limit provided by a company that for some reason doesn't run credit checks. That's not to say the product is worth it, as the rest of what you said is true, but...

HMS B1tch

DragonPup, I just submitted a fraud alert request, thanks for that advice.

Eggy, what you said is very reassuring, cuz I've been stressing about this a bit.

Thanks for the replies, folks. I feel a bit better about it now :P

Ayana

In the future, it's a great idea to take your entire wallet or purse to your local Staples one day. Make a photocopy of every card in it, front and back. That way, when your wallet gets lost of stolen, a) you know everything that was in it, even the cards you barely use, and b) you have all of the immediate contact numbers readily available. This is the best piece of advice I'd ever been given and in my capacity as a police dispatcher, taking reports like this every single day, I pass it on to whoever I can.

Like the people above me said, the credit monitoring systems are not needed here. A fraud alert with the three credit reporting agencies is sufficient. To back that up, a simple report with your local police or sheriff's department.

Your SS car can be replaced by calling the social security administration and following the fun recorded prompts. I think you may be able to order a replacement online now, too. www.ssa.gov.

Good luck.