Ok, I didn't know if this should be in SD or GD so I just flipped a coin. It's kinda of a bitch/rant what-not btu hopefully some people will learn from this. At some point in time yesterday I had apparently lost my wallet. I never noticed this until early this morning when I was getting ready for work. I chalk it up to leaving it in my car and finish getting ready for work. Upon getting in my car, I discover it's not in my car so I back trace my steps the previous evening... My jacket has an inner breast pocket that I have always kept my wallet in. Every single jacket that I buy must have an inner breast pocket for this specific reason. Well, it got kinda warm where I live yesterday and I took my jacket off at work. Normally, when I do this, I put my jacket back on as I leave work but for some reaosn, I decided to carry my jacket out to my car and then carried it from my car to my house. This was, apparently, a huge mistake. Somewhere in this total of one hundred feet of walking distance, my wallet slipped out of my jacket pocket and landed on the ground. Both the area that I work in and the area that I live in are heavily foot trafficed areas. The liklihood that someone picked my wallet up is very high. The liklihood that I will ever see my wallet again is very low. My wallet contained the following items in it: my driver's license, social security card, birth certificate, voter's registration card, insurance card, perscription card, dental insurance card, bank card, expired credit card, several business cards, and seven dollars. Upon getting to my work today (I had to work in another office so I was late because I went to my main office and looked for my wallet) I began the operation of getting everything vital reported and getting the information needed so I'd know what I needed to get in order to get new copies of all of my ID's back. My bank "hot-carded" my debit/bank card and issued me a new card which I will receive in 7-10 business days. No problem. Nobody had even tried to use it yet so that's good. I begin my quest on getting the information need to obtain a new driver's license, social security card, and voter's registration card. First up, I call the West Virginia Department of motor Vehicles. I explain to the woman who answers the phone about my situation and I have no forms of ID at all and she offers up some alternatives. I need to bring my W2 tax forms, a recent paystub, my birth certificate, and two utility bills with me and I can get another driver's license made. Problem here...there are two different address between the three forms of identification that I actually posses and I don't have my birth certificate (it was in my wallet). Also, I keep my driver's license under my dad's address since that is pretty much a permanant address (he owns the land and I seriously doubt he'll ever move) because I don't own my current house and I've moved three times since I moved out of his house. The plan was, and still is, to keep my address there until I manage to buy my own house sometime in the future. This right here brings up an entire new situation. In order to keep my address the same, I won't have to bring as many forms of ID as before. Now, all I need to bring is a copy of my birth certificate, my W2 tax form, my dad, and two utility bills in his name at his current address. We will then have to sign some sort of address paper in front of some person (I've forgotten the exact details but I'll call tomorrow and find out exactly) and the DMV will keep that on file and give me a copy so I can keep it as my place of residency even though I don't live there. Ok, no problem there but I still need to get a copy of my birth certificate and I had the only copy in my wallet. In order to get a copy of my birth certificate, I need my driver's license or my social security card. Again, both of these were in my wallet. It makes it even harder for me because I wasn't born in the county that I've resided in 22/23rds of my life. Luckily though, I can get my mom or my dad to take their driver's license and go to the necessary building and they can get my birth certificate for me. Good thing I never moved far away. Now, I only have to find out what I need to get a copy of my social security card and my voter's registration card (hey, I vote so it's important for me to have). In order to get a copy of my social security card, I need (DUN DUN DUN!) my driver's license and my birth certificate and they will not accept any other form of identification. To get my voter's registration card, I need to have my social security card and my driver's license. This whole setup seems to be pretty damn cyclical to me because in order to get one form of identification that I lost, I need to provide another which I have also lost. Lucky for me though, I can manage it but it's just going to take a few extra steps and it's going to have to involve working with my dad's work schedule to get to the necessary places with him while they are still open. Also, as most states do, the West Virginia DMV gives everyone the option to scan their index fingers into their database when they're getting their driver's license issued. Supposedly this is to help fraud but it also goes into the statewide database where they can match your prints if you commit a crime even with no criminal history. I opted for this option and my fingerprints are also in the national database from when I had both of my hands scanned when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. Keep this information in mind for a second. While I was on the phone with the lady from the DMV, I ask her about the whole fingerprint thing. Specifically, I ask her that since they have my fingerprint in the database and it's linked to all of my personal information, if they could just take my fingerprints. She basically told me that my fingerprints weren't a valid form of ID. Ok, so I can commit a crime and even if there are no witnesses, I can be convicted of said crime based soley on my fingerprints (if I were to leave my prints at said crime) but yet my finger prints aren't a valid enough form of ID to get another driver's license made. Basically, right now, I'm having a hard time proving that I am me to everyone except for the police. I'm also out $7 cash, various other amounts of money to get my IDs reissued, access to my bank account until next week at least (which means no money because I can't withdrawl money without a picture ID), time that has been spent trying to get all of this information to get all of my identifications back, and a $28 plus S&H wallet that I really, really liked. Lessons learned here? Don't carry so damned many forms of ID in my wallet. Also, next time I take my jacket off, take my wallet from the pocket and place it in my pants pocket. Hope someone else learns from this big blunder.
That's kinda scary. Not sure what else to say. I think I'll leave some ID at home. Wonder if I can "lose" my driver's license so that I can get a 2nd copy just in case. Might be a good idea, but not sure if it would be valid.
I wouldn't "lose" your driver's license, if you ever get pulled over and they ID you, run the card, flags as lost/stolen... you might well end up explaining things whilst wearing shiney new bracelets...
It's kind of crappy but it's not scary as bad. I'm lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) because I have "bad" credit right now. Not so much bad, but I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overextended. With the rings that I'm having to jump thorugh just to get a copy of my driver's license, I'm not too worried about someone getting my license with their photo on it. Also, unless they do manage to get a copy of my driver's license with their photo on it, they can't use any of my insurance cards at all. Plus the fact that my one credit card expired back in September (it's become a handy "door key") and my debit/bank card has been "hot-carded" kinda puts me in the clear. Tomorrow, I have to call the three major credit agencies and put them on alert about the whole situation. What this will do is flag my SSN so if anyone tries to get a line of credit under my name, the police will be notified instantly. I was also told earlier tonight that I should go to the police station and file a report with them just so that it's on file in case something does happen. The whole situation is more frustrating then it is scary. I was kinda freaked out earlier this mornign but as I went through the whole process, I calmed down alot.
I feel sorry for ya, man. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, that either the person that picked it up will return it to you, or take the cash/CC and toss the wallet on the ground where someone with more respectable morals picks it up and returns it to you. I don't carry my SS card with me, but I do have my selective service card which I will take out one minute from now. I do have my insurance info and quite a few CC and bank cards in there though. Dang, crossing my toes for you too now.
Are there security cameras in your office or grounds? They may see your wallet dropping out of your pocket and who picked it up. Also alert your security staff, someone may have handed it in.
...and why do you carry your birth certificate in your wallet? You don't even need your Social Security card (just memorise the number for most purposes) or voter's registration card on you for most of the time. The lesson here is not to put all your eggs in one basket.
Unfortunately, the company that I work for doesn't have security cameras or a security staff. It's a large company, but it's pread out through hundreds of small offices mostly staffed with under ten people each. Nope. Although I've been meaning to get one for awhile. I keep my birth certificate in my wallet as well as my social security card mianly because I have to provide them often enough it was just easier to carry them in my wallet then to try then to say "Oh, I"ll bring them tomorrow" and dig them out of some drawer. My voter's registration card is kept in my wallet so I won't lose the damn thing. My social security, voter's registration, and birth certificate cards are in a "hidden" compartment of my wallet. It's not really easily detectable if you're just rifiling through it to see what all is in it but it's easily found if you're clearing out the wallet to keep it for yourself. It's actually a pretty nice wallet. Most of my jackets do have zips on the inner pockets, but this jacket was a gift and lacks the zip function. It doesn't even have a button there either.
Well, that worked then... Sounds it. But regardless, if you carry all this stuff around you stand to lose it much more than if you keep it tucked into a drawer safe at home. I don't mean to bum you out. It is just that you really don't want to carry all proof of your ID on you, all in the same place. As overdose says: your wallet makes for a neat little identity-theft-kit. It is simply not a wise thing to do. This is why you are running into the cyclical loop of identification: every agency you've been dealing with works on the assumption that nobody loses all major forms of ID at once. They assume that for a reason (and for the opposite reason, they shouldn't...).
My Mrs lost her purse (translation: not her handbag but the thing she keep her card/money in) a few weeks ago. She spent the entire evening making calls and writing letters and sending email - while moaning at me throughout the whole episode. She had to be quick because in the wrong hands there could have been a fair amount of trouble, and you are liable (in the UK) until you have notified card companies/banks of your loss. The problem is that she got a call from her bank then next day. The woman who found it specifically took a trip to the bank to hand it in untouched. On the positive side, it shows that there are still plenty of honest people out there. On the negative side, she was walking around with a purse stuffed with dud cards until they were replaced. Took over two weeks for most, some still waiting to be replaced. Bloodcar, perhaps some honest folk have found your wallet and are busy handing it in somewhere - fingers crossed.
also, no military ID as a result of being in the Marines? Serves as a valid form of picture ID across the board
That's been gone for a very long time. As an update to this, my wallet has been found! The CIty Of South Charleston (the city I work in) notified my dad just a little bit ago. They ofund it when they were emptying out one of their dumpsters. It had actually fallen out of the dumpster and onto the ground. All of my ID's are in it still as far as I've been told but I won't be able to verify it until later this evening. There is no cash in it, however. What I'm going to assume happened is that it fell out of my pocket outside of my office building and someone was wlaking by, found it, took the $7 out of it, and then pitched my entire wallet into the dumpster. What a good sumartian. At least they didn't try anything else. I have more to say, but I'm at work now so I'll post abit more when I get home.
To avoid having all the hassle of getting new IDs I recommend my approach. Just wait till it turns up. When I left my wallet on the train all I did was ring the bank the next morning and ask for a new card which was sent within a couple of days. The next time I was in London I got a new Oyster card. Then eventually about 2 weeks later I got a letter saying my wallet had been handed in at my local station. The only thing missing from it was the Oyster card which strangely was the only I'd bothered to spend money replacing. Guess I was pretty lucky. I'll try to keep track of my belongings next time I'm hung over on the train home. bloodcar, you're bloody lucky to have relocated your wallet from out a dumpster. You were right in your first post that the chances of getting back were pretty damn slim. At least now, even if you have already replaced most of your IDs you can still have your nice wallet back.
So, everything was in my wallet minus a couple of items. Mainly, the $7 cash was gone (like it was still going to be there), a deposit slip, and the lsiding portion of my wallet. It kind of sucks that whoever rumaged thorugh my wallet either kept or just tossed the only reaosn I bought the wallet in the first place. I gave a ring to Fossil and they told me to ship them my wallet with a check for $8.50 and they'd just replace the whole wallet for me. All of my ID's were in my wallet and so were my debit/credit cards. Too bad my debit/bank card is now invalid and I have to wait until late next week to be able to use ATMs and make purchases again. I'd rather have the inconvience though and have my wallet then to wonder if someone was trying to be me out there. Couple bits of information for all you U.S.ers out there who are reading this and might find this useful. In this whole ordeal, I learned you can do several things to prevent identity theft even if you lose all your forms of ID like I did. First off, and the most obvious, is to call up your bank and credit card companies immediately and notify them of the situation. Call the DMV and put them on alert about the situation as well because they will notate your file that anyone who tries to get an ID in your name, they must provide a fingerprint for verification first (that is if your state supports this and you already have your prints on file). Next step is to look up the contact information of any of the three major credit bureaus. They can put a flag up on your SSN so that if anyone tries to make a line of credit in your name, the police will be notified. Also make sure you notify your local police department and have a report made just so that there is documentation that your identifications have gone missing. If you follow these steps, you should be fairly well protected against identity theft and the only real harm that should happen would be if someone were to open up a utility account in your name and not pay the bill. The one big question that I still don't understand is the whole fingerprint situation. My fingerprint is valid enough to commit me of a crime with no witnesses and it's good enough to keep anyone else from getting an ID issued in my name. However, at the same time it's not a good enough form of identification to get anything reissued to you. That just really doesn't make any sense.
Its good that you got most of it back. I lost my debit card once and the bank took care of it all so quick I was amazed. By the end of the week I had my new card and pin, the old one was almost expired anyway, and about a week after that my old card appeared out of nowhere. $7 and a wallet was you getting off easy. Just keep you license and a work ID or something for that stuff.
Jesus I'd be so paranoid in your situation especially since you've lost several forms of identification and credit card and all that. Over here we only need an ID card for identification it has fingerprints, picture etc the lot so you lose that it's not so bad and you register for a new one. Being 18 I only really card an ID card, Octopus (transport thing like UK's Oyster) and my Student ID I can't really imagine the amount of cards I will be having in my wallet as I get older. Health insurance, UK ID card (if it gets implemented), Credit card and Bank card. I don't even want to know what happens if I lose my wallet thankfully after losing my phone about 3 times in the spce of 2 weeks each time I have learnt to seriously check where I put my personal belongings and ALWAYS double check.
loosing your wallet sucks, i lost mine on the day of my 18th birthday (legal drinking age in NZ)and had chucked my fake id out allready, wasnt to impressed, that was about 50 bucks to replace everything and then 3 months later my mum found it in the mailbox with a note saying you were hard to find yet nothing gives my address and the only named cards was my drivers licence and eftpos and both places claim they cant give out confidential infomation
