Yes, in one distracted moment, it could happen to you.
By: Joanne Lisa Smith
Every year, just before Independence Day, I make my annual trip to Old Navy to purchase a Fourth of July signature flag T-shirt for my husband. Each July, he swaps his Union Jack for this patriotic fashion statement my celebratory way of honoring his move to the United States. To avoid the rush for these T-shirts come July, I decided to make my purchase early this year. I shopped on Memorial Day.
On this overcast kick-off day to summer, I like many not wanting to waste a day off from work made use of the time at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence. As with most holidays washed out by rainy weather, the parking lot was as packed and the stores were crowded.
Tired from the overloaded dressing rooms and long lines, I made a purchase at Sears and decided I’d had enough shopping for the day. On my way to Old Navy for that last purchase of the day, my eye caught a display outside of a Lane Bryant, an establishment I had never shopped in before.
Packed tightly with racks of clothes, the store looked as if it might have the khakis I was looking for. The store was not crowded with people so, with a package in hand, I decided to take a closer look inside.
As I began to look through a rounder for trousers, I was in need of an "extra hand." The merchandise was so tightly packed into this small retail space; I could barely see the tags on the clothing. With my former purchase slung over my right arm and my purse on the same shoulder, the task of rummaging through the merchandise was becoming an effort.
As I decided to abandon my task, a female shopper, now back-to-back with me, commented on the wonderful fit of the trousers I was looking at. She exclaimed that they were her favorite and wore well.
Because the store was so tightly packed with merchandise, I was unable to turn to see the woman fully and only got a brief glimpse, but as we shopped with our backs to each other, we exchanged a few more shopping tips, and then I turned my attention fully to my search. My right arm was in constant motion as I looked through the merchandise.
Although I did not know it at the time, the scene was ripe for a rip-off.
After an exhaustive effort, I went to the dressing room and noticed that my purse was open. As I am fastidious in closing my purse before leaving a register after I make a purchase, I was bewildered about my open bag. Exhausted from shopping and crowded stores, I simply shrugged it off, closed my bag and tried on the merchandise.
So much for the trousers. I left the store without making a purchase and proceeded to my final intended stop at Old Navy. The T-shirt display was not crowded with shoppers. I made my selection and was on the check-out line in minutes.
It was late in the day and the shops were preparing to close. I opened my bag with the intention of retrieving my wallet and was shocked not to find it there. For a moment I felt a rush of adrenaline that made me almost immobile. In disbelief, I tried to retrace my steps in my mind.
Had I left my wallet at Sears? I immediately backtracked and searched the department I had been shopping in. No wallet in sight. I inquired with associates. No wallet had been returned. My next stop was at the security office in the store. My information was taken, but again, no wallet had been returned.
In disbelief, I made my way to the mall information and security desk. En route I found a mall security officer who inquired whether I had called the police yet. I was in the mall, and although I had thought of mall security, it had not occurred to me to involve the local police. I later learned that since a mall is like any other commercial establishment, if a crime has occurred, a police report must be filed.
I stayed put and the mall security officer produced a Lawrence police officer. Escorted to the police office in the mall, I communicated the story to the officer. In doing so, I realized that during the time I was talking with the fellow shopper back-to-back with me, while moving my arm looking through the merchandise, someone else was doing their own shopping from my purse. I could not have felt someone open the purse on my shoulder because my arm was in motion while looking through the trousers. Sadly, I later learned that Lane Bryant stores have no security cameras, and that this is the kind of information that camera-shy thieves know.
The police officer and I worked in tandem to call the credit card companies to cancel my accounts. He began filling out a police report for the theft of my wallet. The first call was to American Express. We learned that the card had been used shortly before our call for a large amount at Best Buys at Nassau Park in West Windsor.
Upon learning this, the officer produced a second set of forms a police report for identity theft. Now that my credit card(s) had been used, not only had my wallet been stolen, so had my identity and identity theft is also a crime.
Like a jigsaw puzzle, with every call and every card used by the thief, I was able to place the exact time and location my wallet had been stolen. It was indeed as I had thought. My wallet was stolen at approximately 4:35 p.m. By 6:50 p.m. the thieves had left a path of destruction on my credit line to the tune of approximately $3,000.
My Visa card was used at the Circuit City store on the perimeter of the mall, easily accessible for thieves as it is adjacent to the mall and Route 1. To add greater insult to injury, two minutes after the purchase was made on my Discover card at Circuit City for a nice selection of electronic goods, my debit bank card was used on the same check-out line and handled by the same sales associate. This time the charge was for $1,000. The card while used by me primarily as a debit card was used by the thief as a credit card. Because it is tied directly to my bank account, the money was stolen directly from the account.
One of the biggest shocks came when I was told by both Visa and my own bank (PNC) that both of these cards were used to make purchases at Hertz Rental Car in Oklahoma City. I was sure this was incorrect as the thief had to be in New Jersey, until I learned that one of the ways that the thief tried to ensure that I had not yet discovered the theft and cancelled my card was to make a purchase via telephone. The thief called in a reservation on these cards. Once run through as a credit card purchase, the thief could see the card was still "live" and could be used.
I was baffled that the purchases were for the small amounts of $8.50 and $8.52 and that the charges had been made only minutes apart. I later learned that in essence, the thief was probably a member of a larger ring and a contact was present on the other end in Oklahoma City as a means to ensure purchases could still be made.
Of my own effort, I went to see the manager at Circuit City to report the charge on my bank card (one I had learned of later that evening). He reviewed the purchase and we learned that the charge was for a gift certificate in the amount of $1,000. Circuit City has a policy to sell gift certificates up to the maximum amount of $500.
In this case, one gift certificate was purchased and it was run through by an associate servicing the same register where a fraudulent purchase was made only minutes before with my Discover card. With regard to the associate, the manager mumbled to another associate, "He knows better than to sell a gift certificate in the amount of $1,000."
When I inquired about how purchases could be made without a photo ID, I learned that thieves have that angle covered, too. If the license is laminated with a photo underneath, all the thief has to do is to drop in a photo over the existing picture and re-laminate the entire card. Laminators are portable and can be used in seconds, making it easy to create a new ID before the thief is out of the parking lot. I found this news very sobering.
Circuit City does have video cameras, so, in all likelihood, the thief was caught on tape. The police retrieved the video but I found that as the victim, I am not privileged to have access to a viewing until the thief is apprehended. Weeks later, I received a call from a detective with the Lawrence Police inquiring if I had noticed a woman while shopping who fit a particular description. I noted that description sounded like the woman I encountered in Lane Bryant. That was the last I heard in the case. If the thief is not caught, the case goes no further.
In addition to the purchases for merchandise, I was shocked to see a charge at a gas station on Route 1 several towns north of the mall. Apparently the thief was confident enough that he or she could move faster than the police and I.
The gift certificate was used within 24 hours of purchase at a Circuit City in Yonkers, N.Y. I gather there was enough gas in the tank to get that far from Lawrence.
In my concern for the recovery of my wallet, driver’s license, registration and personal items, the police reminded me that the missing items were the least of my problems. Once the thief used my credit cards, I joined the ranks of millions who are victims of identity theft.
I went from what I thought was a horrible case of a stolen wallet to having my entire financial world turned upside down. Although I thought to cancel my credit cards immediately, it was not until I returned home hours later that my husband asked me if I had also cancelled my bank debit card.
He went online to learn that indeed the thief had drawn directly from our bank account, while I called the customer service department to report the theft. Kudos to PNC Bank for the wonderful service and kindness they extended to us. They acted quickly to cancel and re-establish all new accounts for us, tagged our accounts for identity theft and provided me with a wealth of information on how to protect my identity in the future. This information is available to all customers, and I would encourage everyone to get it and understand the steps to identity protection.
The credit cards companies were equally as helpful. It is imperative to note that a police report must be filed at the time the theft occurs. All credit card companies and banks require the police report case number to ensure that a case is legitimate and for reimbursement of stolen funds.
The police officer and the bank educated me on the three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and Trans UnionSM and encouraged me to file the fraudulent activity with each of them. I did so and registered for a weekly service to monitor my credit reports for the next year. To date I have received several notifications on my accounts, and all have been legitimate. I am comforted by each notification because I know someone is watching.
I have been told that if the thief was part of a professional ring, now that they have my information, it could be sold to someone else at any time. Given that the theft of my identity could happen again at a later date, this requires me to be the guardian of my credit standing forever. I’d love to bury my head in the sand and forget this all ever happened, but the sad fact is that it has, and that the hassle (and costs involved) are mine to monitor.
A change of your address is one of the first things a thief will do as he or she steals identity. Once a new address is established, a thief can open accounts in your name based on past credit history. The thief runs up the bills in your name and when he or she does not pay, you are sought for payment. By registering with the three credit bureaus, you are alerted to all activity attached to your name. Without these services, you could potentially be caught off-guard and too late.
I learned that the business of identity theft is taken very seriously by banks, credit card companies, credit bureaus and the police because it is just that a big business for thieves. All provided me with valuable information and a serious crash course in a sad and real subject.
There were other items in my wallet a Blockbuster Video card, an automobile club card, grocery store cards and the like that were not credit cards. I was advised to cancel them all as each is tied to my identify.
One of the packets of fraud protection information I received even included templates of letters one to send to the postmaster as an alert that I had been the victim of identity theft and have not changed my address, another to notify the U.S. Passport Office about the theft, in case anyone tired to use my identity to get a passport and travel using my name.
Although I don’t make it a habit to carry my Social Security card, I did happen to have it in my wallet that day. This is one of the best forms of proof on one’s identity. Those nine digits follow us everywhere, tell our story and are ideal for a thief to acquire when stealing identity.
Coincidentally, on my way into the Social Security office in Trenton to replace my card (new numbers are not issued and the number you are given initially follows you from birth to death), I met a police officer who told me that his cousin’s wallet had also been stolen while he shopped at Quaker Bridge Mall on Memorial Day, noting that thieves seemed to be "working" the mall heavily that day.
He said that holidays especially "One-Day Sale" holidays are prime time for thieves preying on shoppers. They are aware that people have the cash or credit with them so that they may take advantage of the sales, when on other days they may carry less. Malls are usually located near main thoroughfares and provide easy access for thieves.
With Labor Day right around the corner the holiday by which we celebrate our achievements and efforts in the workforce and a national tribute to the contributions we have made to the prosperity of our nation undoubtedly we will spend some of that prosperity at the mall. Awareness of your surroundings is essential so that it is not the thieves who prosper in your behalf.