Oh carole, how awful! My DH checks the garage door too, so I often forget to check it when he's gone. Thank goodness no one entered your home or cleaned out your garage. So sorry for the hassle.

Can you talk to the folks at the bank and see what can be done so they transfer the ATM account #s so your husband can still get cash this week if he needs it? Maybe they can temporarily freeze your account but first open another one by transferring some money into it.

Switching the auto pays should not be difficult--just annoying, I know--been there (via a credit card account change)!

A bright side: If you never liked your DL photo, maybe you'll get to have another taken!

Put a Post-it note near on your bedroom door saying "Is the garage door locked? Is the front door locked?" just for this week. Takes the stress off counting on your mind to remind you, and you're already stressed.

How awful - I cringe a the thought of this happening.

I tend to think that you are right and probably nothing will happen with the checking account, but that's too big a chance to take. Have your husband make one last withdrawal from the ATM and then close the account. You can overnight send him a new ATM card.

How annoying to have that happen!

A friend had her purse on her kitchen table and the window opened with the screen down. Some idiot cut the screen & stole her purse right off her table. Since then I always bring my purse upstairs with me at night. And like your situation, they think it was kids just looking for some quick cash. Why can't they just take the cash & leave everything else? Still wrong & creepy but slightly less inconvenient.

Another reason to get in the habit of checking the garage door when your husband isn't home: my neighbors left their door up & kids stole beer out of their garage fridge.

If I come home after my husband's car is already in the garage I say outloud "shutting the garage door". Hearing it helps me remember that's it's done. That way I don't get into bed and wonder "did I shut the garage door?" and have to go back down & check it.

OMG! That is so very very annoying!

Yes -- I do exactly the same thing as hhireno -- I literally say "The garage door is down" out loud when I leave the house OR when I'm alone at night.

I always "check the perimeters" before bed! :)

Jan

Close the account. You can end up with a credit problem so big you can't imagine. Check out the story I've linked from Houston.

Here is a link that might be useful: ID Theft

Wow, Ideefixe, that was a story. Since it was so many medical bills, I'd be tempted to to hire my own PI and track down who this guy was.

This happened to me about 10 years ago - my purse was snatched at the grocery store - so watch out keeping your purse in the cart. Anyways, they were professionals and didn't use my identity at first - they waited about 6 months. They did a number of split deposits where they deposited $500 and withdrew $300 at the time of deposit. Of course all the checks were bad so my bank sucked out the $500 and this happened like 7 times in 2 days, so by the time I realized I had a problem, they had pretty much cleaned out my checking account. Then they started renting apts and opening utilities in my name. It was a mess and took awhile to clean up. But they only used my identity for a few weeks and then moved on to someone else to eliminate getting caught.

I can't talk to DH about this until tonight. I can probably work out something with him re cash and he does have his credit cards! He just hates this kind of stuff. Not real patient!

That's awful! And alot of trouble.

We always keep our garage door down unless we are out there. For one thing, it's a large garage with a workshop at the back. My husband has some pricey equipment out there. Not to mention small tools that someone could easily walk off with. Secondly, the space is heated/cooled if needed. I never have the door up with hubby gone, and I'm fanatic about checking doors, ect. on the rare occasion he's gone overnight. LOL you must be braver than me!

I'd definitely close the account. Hope you get it all worked out soon.

tina

If you stepped up to my window at my bank, I would strongly suggest you close this account. Getting everything set back up with a new account will be a little bit of trouble, but hey, it's protecting your money.

I know you are already beating yourself up over this but I still have to ask........Why do you leave your purse in your car? Seriously, I can't think of a single reason, good or not good. What advantage is there?

Red

So very sorry for all the trouble this has caused you getting things back up and running so to speak.
I read about this all the time in our newspaper, "Police Blotter" (or something like that), people leaving purses/wallets in their unlocked cars in garage/driveway and having them stolen. (happened to my granddaughter last yr. but was found in the back alley with $$ gone, nothing else)
I would never leave my purse in the car but that's me, I can't think of a reason to do so either and at home I put in my lower kitchen cabinet as I have plenty of room and I only need it when in the kitchen.
My door is only open if I am leaving or returning but I am alone so I do have to be extra careful.
I just hope this hasn't caused you too much grief. susan

I hope things are up and running now, what a drag this must be for you.

Carol - sorry about the theft, all the hassles that comes with it and I hope you get a sense of security back soon.

I'd caution anybody to leave their garage door open at all when you are not out there. Our neighbors said in their old neighborhood in Houston (nice area) they had done this as their daughter had been out playing and then they went in and had lunch. A bunch of equipment had been stolen from theirs and others in the neighborhood that left their garages unattended. Thieves driving around and taking the opportunity is what the police told them.

What a shame . . . I'm sorry it happened to you.

Another place NOT to leave your purse: For years my mother-in-law and her friend, both in their late 80s, walked at a mall before it opened. They always locked their purses in the trunk before going into the mall. One day someone broke a window, pulled down the back seat and stole their purses. Obviously, "someone" had been watching when they oh-so-carefully stowed their purses.

If you're going to put your purse in the trunk, do it somewhere other than your parking place.

Sorry you're going through this. I can imagine it's a mess and a pain trying to get it all fixed. I hope your DH isn't too upset!

My husband had the unfortunate habit of leaving his checkbook in the locked glove compartment of his car. Of course, it was stolen. And the Mensa member who stole it tried to cash a check at our local bank, and luckily for us, got the one teller who knew DH by sight. When the trial came, his public defender tried to use the surveillance camera tape as evidence, claiming my husband had disguised himself (by magically growing 5 inches and changing skin color) to look like his client. Didn't work.

Redbazel, it was just a habit I had gotten into - I rarely need anything in my purse when I'm at home. I bring my phone in with me because I usually plug it into the charger while I'm driving. It's an attached garage, we live in a nice subdivision, by house is probably 6 car lengths from the street, I've done it for over 12 years without an issue - I could go on and on. In hindsight, it was stupid and I will stop, but now I have to find a place in my house for my purse. I hate to see it sitting on the counter!

Anyhoo, DH was pretty calm about the whole thing, so I'm going to the bank to close the account. Funny thing is my purse is literally empty. I have an old wallet I'm using - it has a DL, 1 CC and 1 ATM card and some money! No miscellaneous card crap that I've been carrying around for ever! I have to find a new cosmetic bag and put my basics in there. Literally a purse with a wallet in it - keys and a cell phone. I wonder how long until it's full again!

Well, Carol, while I was sitting here wondering why anyone would leave their purse in the garage....(not only do I want my purse handy, in case I need to run out the front door, but I'm thinking of my lipsticks and eyeliner pencils melting in the heat of the garage inside their little bag in my purse)...I happened to think of something dumb that I do. My DD leaves for work through the laundry room/garage door, locking that door behind her and closing the garage by remote as she pulls out her car. My DH leaves out the front door and used to lock it behind him. But when the weather is nice, (about 9 months of the year) I leave the front door standing open. And the screen/storm door is not locked. My purse sits on the sideboard in full view of the unlocked, open door. And I go get in the shower.
So...........I will be rethinking my own bad habits too.

One thing I do that's a good habit....I had DH buy a strong clip for my car & house keys. So they are on a ring with the clip. When I get out of my car, I clip the keys onto a big ring of my purse strap. That way, the keys are out when I walk to my car........never have to search for them and they are easy to grab to use the panic button on my car.

Red