Lesson learned, take 2

Have you ever had to learn something the hard way? Did it ever take you 2 times to LEARN it? I unfortunately have. Almost a year ago our car was "broken" into. I say "broken" into because even though they didn't technically "break" in (because the doors were left unlocked) some person/people went into our cars during the night and stole some of our stuff. Matt got the IPod radio adapter that I gave him for Christmas stolen. They also took the remote to Matt's cd player (the cd player is in the trunk, so now he can't use that either), our phone charger and some other things you plug in to the cigarette outlet. My car was only missing some change from the console, but it was annoying nonetheless. We figured since it happened on Spring Break/St. Patrick's Day that it was probably just some teenagers.

Now fast forward to yesterday. I went to Walgreens to pick up a Rx, and instead of taking both kids AND the diaper bag in, I just took my wallet out of the diaper bag and put it in my sweatshirt pocket. No problem. When we finished at Walgreens, instead of putting my wallet back into the diaper bag, I just put it in the console up front. We were going over to visit with Grandma Boyle & "Aunt" Yuko. I didn't think about my wallet after that. Last night we were at Matt's parent's house until about 9:30pm and when we got home, both kids were fussing, so we were just trying to get them inside and since I didn't drive, I didn't think about locking the car. I remembered this morning as we were going over to Grandma's again that I left my wallet in the console last night, so after the kids were in their seats, I got in and checked and sure enough, it was there. Whew. What a relief. But then for some reason, I had the thought that I should look INSIDE it. That's when I saw it (or didn't see it, as the case may be): my business debit card, my debit card for OUR checking account, and my only credit card were NOT in their respective slots. And the $3 I had in my wallet was gone too. And the change that we keep for "renting" a cart at Aldi, etc. was all gone too. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach!!! SOMEBODY STOLE MY STUFF!!!!! The good thing is that they didn't steal my whole wallet, so I still have my driver's license. I called Matt and he told me to call the police and the bank. I asked if he would call Discover and cancel our card. So when I got to Matt's mom's house, my frantic and very long day began. I called the police and they were going to send an officer over to take my report. She said he'd be there in about 15 minutes, so instead of going to the bank in person, I just called them and asked to cancel both of my debit cards because they had been stolen...she immediately went to our accounts to see if there had been any activity...boy oh boy, they had been busy!!!! Whenever they snagged my cards (the police officer said our neighborhood had been hit, one neighbor said his dogs were going nuts around midnight), they spent over $400 between our 2 accounts!!!! Most of them were on my business account and only a trip to a gas station and McDonald's was on our checking account. I'm thinking they must have called up some friends and told them to bring their cars over though, because there were 3 different gas stations on there. Crazy.

So after the officer got everything I had to say, he told me that I needed to get a statement from the bank with as much detail as possible (what was bought, where, what city, etc.), he told me that in order to not be charged for the charges that were made, I had to go to each city where my cards were used and filed a report which in turn would get transferred over to the Shawnee police because they were the ones that started the case. He also told me to put a fraud warning on my identity through the 3 credit bureaus because even though they didn't take my id, doesn't mean they didn't write down my info. Great. Can someone please punch me harder in the stomach because apparently I can still breathe a little.

Matt's mom & Yuko were very gracious to watch the kids while I ran all over the area trying to get things sorted out. I went to the bank first and they were very helpful. When I got back in the car after that, though, I was a mess, so I called Matt and told him I HAD to see him. I was trying to be a "big girl" and do this all by myself, but I was so overwhelmed and afraid that I was going to forget to do something Mr. Officer said to do, I was really frazzled. He was kind enough to get out of a couple of meetings (he said he didn't mind doing that at all!) and went with me to the Lenexa PD, the Merriam PD, and the Shawnee PD. Then I took him back to work and I went back to get the kids. It was way past their naptimes, but I knew if I didn't get it done then, I'd feel even worse, so I'm glad I have such willing in-laws who live close by.

So I think I did everything I was supposed to. The officer at Merriam PD suggested checking my credit report once a year for at least the next 10 years just to make sure no one is trying to use me. Wow. Please twist that knife in just a little deeper.

It's sad that nothing is safe anymore. I am usually a very trusting person, but I think I'm going to have a hard time trusting ANYTHING for awhile. I keep kicking myself, thinking about all the "If onlys" but Matt tells me this doesn't help me at all. What's done is done. I've done my part. The bank is keeping an eye on my accounts and hopefully, HOPEFULLY by filing my reports in 3 different cities, they will be able to find the theif/ves that did this. I was talking with Justin Boyle tonight about all this and he goes "It feels like you've been violated, doesn't it?" He's right. It really does.

Lesson learned. The hard way. The 2nd time around.