The thread title says it…a month ago, apparently, someone stole our water, phone, car payment, cable, and credit card bill payments from our mailbox. :o
I’ve called the bank and issued stop payments on all the checks (they haven’t cleared yet, which is what alerted me–all my new bills were coming in with double costs), called all billing companies to make sure they’re aware of the problem and make over the phone payments…question is…what next?
We’re concerned about identity theft. None of the bills, thankfully, had our social security #s on them, but still, damage could be done. BTW, this ends our EVER putting bills in the mailbox!! It’ll be straight to the post office from now on…
The hubby is going to call the DMV and social security to make sure no one’s made any weird requests lately, and I’m going to see if getting a new banking account # is possible.
Whoa. That’s too bad. I wish I had a suggestion, but it looks like you have most of it covered. Hopefully there won’t be the identity theft thing to deal with too.
And going to the Post Office is the only way. I’ve read where we shouldn’t even put mail in a box that is too isolated, or has infrequent pick-ups. What a world.
<agent smith>
Find them and destroy them!
</agent smith>
sorry… been in a matrix kind of mood lately…
anyhow… what happened sucks…
stepping into paranoid mode now, you might want to switch checking account numbers, the bank should be accomodating… with the account number on the check and a color laser printer for printing an ID, someone might be able to help themselves to some of your cash… my wife (ex teller) says that shouldn’t happen (due to various banking regulations), but I know from experience that an ID, an account number, and some friendly conversation is all it takes to pull some money out of a checking account… (before anyone asks… I mislaid my atm card, didn’t have any checks on me, needed cash, knew my account number, had an ID, and just explained the situation to the teller… she was most helpful in getting me a couple hundred bucks… later on I realized that anyone could have printed an ID with my name and their picture, rattled off my account number, and done the same)
so if you want to be paranoid… otherwise I’d say, don’t sweat it, it was probably just some asshole/dumb-ass-teenager doing something stupid…
What about the possibility of paying your bills online?
I switched to paying online after my grandmother-in-law (she lives on the same property we do), while on a walk found two bill payments of mine lying in the gutter about 3 houses down the street. Apparently, the mail carrier had dropped them and didn’t bother to go and pick them up. Plus, I’ve just had problems with the mail service in the area (lots of missing pieces of mail).
Sure, the bank charges me a little extra for doing it, but the knowledge that my checks aren’t floating around is worth it.
Re: paying bills online. Take a look at www.presidential.com. If you set up an account online, and have your paycheck deposited to it automatically, you get free billpayer service, and they’re still paying 3% interest. Some downsides: there’s no way to deposit cash in your account unless you happen to live near one of their handful of branches. They have only a handful of ATMs, so you’ll probably get stuck with some ATM fees, again unless you happen to live near one of their machines. Still, it’s a tough deal to beat.
No, I don’t work for them - just a satisfied customer!
Also call up the major credit reporting agencies and place fraud alerts on your (and your wife’s) accounts! Two of the big three let ya do it over the phone fairly easy (from what I hear). And, of course, my mind completely blanks on the names. Equifax? Gaaah.
I’d also try to switch to an alternate form of payment… automatic deductions, on-line, etc. Switching to sending off your mail from the post office instead of your mailbox is also a good idea… you may also want to look into replacing your mailbox with something that the mailperson can stuff mail into, but only you can get the mail out. (Door slot? Locking mailbox? Dunno what kind of mailbox you have, and what’s feasable here.)
I hope that you guys don’t have any really negative fall-out from this… just knowing that it happened is bad enough.
<< Any small object when dropped will hide under a larger object. >>
I would assume the worst; that you are a victim of identity theft or will be. It’s a serious problem that can negatively affect your credit and possibly more. Our local consumer advocate (he’s also syndicated in some places), Clark Howard, has these tips: Clark Howard’s Identity Theft tips
My main concern would be that the thieves had washed the checks and written them back out to themselves for obscene amounts. Since you say they haven’t cleared, and now have stop payments on them I think you’re pretty well covered. Just as long as your bank is made aware of the situation and knows to watch out for suspicious activity you should be pretty safe. Sorry you had to deal with such a hassle. Blah!
I’ve been reading a lot about check washing and identity theft. We mail only at work or at a really secure mailbox now. It sounds like you’ve covered your bases, but I’d call the credit card company and see if they suggest anything else to protect you.
Our mail carrier is ALWAYS delivering someone else’s mail to our house. And they REFUSE to deliver tax return checks to us. Two years in a row!
We also had a problem with the snow plow taking out our mailbox. Then we’d find important mail after the spring thaw. We remedied that by putting the mailbox on a spinny thing so it just whips around when the plow hits it.