House broken into--please help

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
boater07
Posts: 788
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:44 pm
Location: Northwest

House broken into--please help

Post by boater07 »

My daughters house has was ransacked. 3 computers stolen along with jewelery etc and passport.
What do we do? Have notified bank, credit card and brokerage.
Police suggested SS office since ## is now out there. I also suggested credit freeze with bureaus-should it be all 3??.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
User avatar
rob
Posts: 5247
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:49 pm
Location: Here

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by rob »

That's crappy....

- Credit freeze is a good start
- Change all passwords since the laptop was stolen
- Not sure about US but normally you need to report stolen passport with a police report
- Drivers license?
- Don't forget about stuff like library cards or alike that could be used but are not bank cards
- Did the laptop have any location stuff that could help find it? Have a look at prey which can help a little for the replacement stuff
- Brick anything like a phone that was stolen
- Contact insurance

More importantly, help her get over the feeling of someone been in the house.....
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
User avatar
cheese_breath
Posts: 11786
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:08 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by cheese_breath »

Medical insurance cards, especially Medicare card since it may have your SS# on it.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
User avatar
Bustoff
Posts: 2033
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:45 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Bustoff »

boater07 wrote:My daughters house has was ransacked. 3 computers stolen along with jewelery etc and passport.
What do we do? Have notified bank, credit card and brokerage.
Police suggested SS office since ## is now out there. I also suggested credit freeze with bureaus-should it be all 3??.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
You didn't mention credit cards being taken ?
If there were debit or credit cards taken, more likely than not, the thieves will immediately use them at gas stations and ATM's. Often times there will be video of those transactions so you need to make sure the police follow-up on things. Make sure the police check local pawn shops for the computers and jewelry. The passport was probably discarded.
The only plus to this is that 99 out of 100 times the perpetrators are not sophisticated identity thieves but rather young punks looking for items of value to buy drugs and or liquor.
Don't forget to call the insurance company.
User avatar
midareff
Posts: 7711
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:43 am
Location: Biscayne Bay, South Florida

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by midareff »

You are going to have to change your email as well, especially with every site that handles $$, from investments to credit cards to anything that has or can charge $$. Don't forget the eBay's, M*, Amazon, banks and more. If it were me I'd be hammering on the emails and passwords right now until everything was done. Then I'd take a breath and go buy a small safe to hold passports, SS cards, jewelry and other stuff and get it installed. Once bitten twice shy.
Rupert
Posts: 4122
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:01 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Rupert »

As a PP said, burglars are, generally speaking, not the most sophisticated of criminals. They're looking for stuff they can quickly convert to cash. They probably won't know what to do with the Passport, but there's a rather lucrative market for stolen identity documents in the undocumented alien population. So you definitely need to let the State Dept know rather quickly just in case your daughter's burglars are aware of that market. I'd start canvassing the local pawn shops and Craigslist ads for the missing laptops. The police probably aren't going to take the time to do that. You'll have to do it on your own and let the police know if you find them. Hopefully they were password protected.
Crow Hunter
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:05 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Crow Hunter »

Another thing to keep in mind is that they will likely strike again if they get away with it this time.

They will return after they believe the stuff has been replaced by insurance, remember they aren't that bright.

Several of the people that I work with have been hit 2 and 3 times. Eventually their insurance dropped them and they had to find new insurance. The police "could not find them".

Security system/cameras and/or other hardening of the location or valuable storage off site might be warranted.

Definitely don't store any new valuables there unattended.

Just be thankful that she wasn't there and make sure she learns what to look for so she doesn't walk in on them if they strike again.
User avatar
theduke
Posts: 661
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:31 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by theduke »

I would also contact the IRS to put a fraud alert on her social security number for identity protection. Tax return fraud is becoming big business. This could probably be done online. She will receive a pin number to use when filing her tax return.
User avatar
OAG
Posts: 1202
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:54 am
Location: Currently Central Ohio, USA

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by OAG »

Was anything insured? Did not notice that. Beyond the previous suggestions maybe it is time to move if renting. The police report is important for several of the other factors (Passport, Credit Cards, etc.,) and to prove the date and time of loss of other cards that may be used soon.
OAG=Old Army Guy. Retired CW4 USA (US Army) in 1979 21 years of service @ 38.
spectec
Posts: 1828
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:00 am

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by spectec »

Report the stolen passport to the US Dept of State.
This is very important, as the passport is more useful than even a drivers license for identity purposes.

Here's the link:
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/pas ... s-0064.pdf
Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it. - Will Rogers
Shadow_Dancer
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:40 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Shadow_Dancer »

All good information in the above posts! And, since you don't know if the intruders were just junkies looking for items to quickly convert to cash, get that stolen passport reported to the State Department as quickly as possible.

At the same time, make sure that your daughter contacts her health insurance company, if her health insurance cards were stolen. . . . Health insurance card information nowadays is considered to be more valuable than credit card information because if the health insurance cards are used by someone else other than your daughter, your daughter will be held responsible for paying any and all bills, co-pays, etc. that are not covered by her health insurance plan.

With credit cards, the consumer is protected from someone running up fraudulent charges on their account. But, with health insurance cards, the consumer is responsible for payments no matter who triggers the charges.
User avatar
burt
Posts: 852
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:47 am

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by burt »

Crow Hunter wrote:Another thing to keep in mind is that they will likely strike again if they get away with it this time.

They will return after they believe the stuff has been replaced by insurance, remember they aren't that bright.

Several of the people that I work with have been hit 2 and 3 times. Eventually their insurance dropped them and they had to find new insurance. The police "could not find them".

Security system/cameras and/or other hardening of the location or valuable storage off site might be warranted.

Definitely don't store any new valuables there unattended.

Just be thankful that she wasn't there and make sure she learns what to look for so she doesn't walk in on them if they strike again.
This is the US of A ?
What happened to that Freedom stuff ?
By the way... those walls in Gated Communities are not high enough.

Sorry, need something actionable.
Get a dog.

burt
Last edited by burt on Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dgdevil
Posts: 938
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 12:42 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by dgdevil »

Check eBay & Craigslist, see if the stuff is being sold there.
Crow Hunter
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:05 pm

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Crow Hunter »

burt wrote:
Crow Hunter wrote:Another thing to keep in mind is that they will likely strike again if they get away with it this time.

They will return after they believe the stuff has been replaced by insurance, remember they aren't that bright.

Several of the people that I work with have been hit 2 and 3 times. Eventually their insurance dropped them and they had to find new insurance. The police "could not find them".

Security system/cameras and/or other hardening of the location or valuable storage off site might be warranted.

Definitely don't store any new valuables there unattended.

Just be thankful that she wasn't there and make sure she learns what to look for so she doesn't walk in on them if they strike again.
This is the US of A ?
What happened to that Freedom stuff ?
By the way... those walls in Gated Communities are not high enough.

Sorry, need something actionable.
Get a dog.

burt
Yes. USA in a small rural town. One friend hit 3 times. He put up a gate in his driveway. He boarded up his back door. They broke through the wall on the last entry. Went in through a garage door then tore through the wall (wood siding). What is bad is that he didn't/doesn't really have that much. He actually now carries all his valuables in his vehicle. He unloads and loads it back into his vehicle every day and takes it to work with him. We have a access controlled fenced in parking lot.

Another guy got broken into twice and he has an indoor dog. A fighting breed even. Didn't stop them.

Third guy broken into twice.

They did finally pick up a couple of guys for breaking in homes. Turned out that one of them was related to the sheriff. Who'd thunk it. Entire county's insurance bill went up by $200/yr. When people called and asked, they were told it was because of the constant break ins.

All of them occurred during the day while the owners were at work.

Extremely bad meth problem in this area.
User avatar
TimeRunner
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:23 pm
Location: Beach-side, CA

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by TimeRunner »

For those reading here, encrypt your hard disk. Macs...use a password and make sure encryption is on. Windows...use a password and use Bitlocker or, for older machines that don't support it, Truecrypt or something else that will do the job. Google search is your friend if this doesn't make sense to you.
One cannot enlighten the unconscious. | "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine." -Jeff Spicoli
Antoinette
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:26 am

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by Antoinette »

Is it enough to just log out of my PC and my Mac? will criminals be able to get around that and into the computer?

thanks-
User avatar
in_reality
Posts: 4529
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 6:13 am

Re: House broken into--please help

Post by in_reality »

Antoinette wrote:Is it enough to just log out of my PC and my Mac? will criminals be able to get around that and into the computer?

thanks-
No it's not enough.

They don't need to get in. Let's assume they can't figure out your passcode. It's still really trivial to boot another OS from a DVD or USB and use that to read any files on your disk. That's why you want them encrtpted. Your Mac probably has a setting to do that for your home folder. Moght erase everything if you turn it on now though. Do a good backup first and look into how to do it.
Post Reply