Stolen passport application, definite security risk
March 21, 2015 5:45 AM   Subscribe

I made a mistake and inadvertently threw away my completed passport application along with some junk mail. I realized my mistake the next morning, but when I went to the trash can, someone had already ripped through the bag and my papers were missing. I've started to go through the process of trying to mitigate potential damage, but what else should I do besides what I've already done?

I have done the following:
Filed an incident report with my police department (I am still waiting to see if they will actually file it as a police report because I had to fill it out online first due to time constraints).
Put a fraud alert with the credit companies.
Filed an affidavit with the IRS.
Filed a complaint with the ftc.
Filed a complain with IC3.
Turned on 2-factor authentication on one email (will do so with the second this evening)
Notified my banks. Two put a secondary identification code required to make any changes/access my accounts but Wells Fargo decided instead to up sell their ID protection service.
After getting my temper under control, I signed up for the Wells Fargo program and will cancel in a few months or so.
(My online bank was cagey about the information they'll use to authenticate requests for access, so I am worried about that as well as Wells Fargo.)
Changed my login information for several websites.
Deleted all saved cc info on websites.
I placed a freeze (paid because I don't have a police report yet) on all three credit reporting agencies.

I am just sick with anxiety because a passport application isn't one piece of identity, it's my entire identity. It had my phone number, DOB, SSN, birth town, DL #, current address, phone number, email--anything needed to become me was on that paper.

Should I change my phone number? Divert my mail? How do I know if someone is using my SSN to open checking/savings accounts? How do I know if someone is using my DL#?

I realize it was a monumental error with a huge probability of negative repercussions, but what I need to know is how to minimize them as quickly and effectively as possible, and how to watch for unauthorized uses in the future.
posted by awesomelyglorious to Law & Government (9 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Ugh, I'm really sorry that this happened to you. We all do silly things sometimes; it just really sucks that someone happened to go through your garbage before you realised your mistake.

Someone committed tax fraud using my tax file number (which I think is our equivalent of the SSN?) a few years ago. The tax office gave me a new TFN. If you didn't speak to anyone at the IRS when you filed the affidavit, I'd definitely give them a call. Explain what happened and see if they can cancel your SSN before anyone uses it to commit fraud. It is in their interest, too, after all. Whoever used my TFN managed to file a fake tax return for $6,000.

I wouldn't think that you'd have to change your phone number or forward your mail, since that kind of information is fairly easily available, but we'll wait and see what others think.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 6:52 AM on March 21, 2015


According to this FTC page, the Social Security Administration will not change a number unless you can prove it's doing you harm.
The SSA may assign a new Social Security number to you if you are being harassed, abused, or are in grave danger when using the original number, or if you can prove that someone has stolen your number and is using it. You must provide evidence that the number is being misused, and that the misuse is causing you significant continuing harm. ...

...Getting a new Social Security number probably won’t resolve all the problems related to the theft of your identity. Government agencies and some businesses may keep records under your original Social Security number. In addition, because credit reporting companies use Social Security numbers and other personal information to identify a person’s credit file, using a new number doesn’t guarantee a fresh start.
It sounds like you've done most of the things you should do. Rather than the Wells Fargo monitoring, you may want to go with a service provided by one of the credit companies for a longer period than a few months. Whoever took your stuff was clearly out for identity theft. What rotten luck!
posted by zennie at 7:43 AM on March 21, 2015


Forget about changing your SS#. It's one of the reasons why I hate those #'s. There are literally hundreds of women in severe danger because their abusive spouses have their SS#, and their applications are denied for changing it. Only women who are able to provide medical records and police reports showing that the abusive spouse with their number has commited harm can change it. For example (I used to volunteer at a shelter) we had several women's request for changing their number denied even though they had restraining orders against their spouses and proof of abuse, but the only one who got her request accepted was a woman who was literally stabbed by her husband 4 times and gave proof of that to SSA. SSA kills lots of women every year by refusing to change their number because they don't feel the threat is "enough" to warrant the change. Also there are lots of people who file for a new number when their dentity gets stolen and even when their credit is affected it's not uncommon for it to take hiring a lawyer and up to 3 years to finally get it changed IF they agree to do so. This is exactly what happened to someone's child I know who's number was stolen while he was still a minor. Took legal fees and YEARS for them to agree to change it. This is why if I ever have kids I'm not assigning them a SS# at birth. Contrary to popular belief it is NOT required to assign a baby a SS#. They can apply for their own number at 18 or whenever they apply for their first job. Giving your child a number at birth opens them up to 18 years of potential identity theft and then it's difficult to change the number if it happens so your kid is stuck with awful credit.

The point of my little rant her is: Do not think that putting: 'O I left my papers in the trash and they were stolen' on an application to change your number is going to do anything more than completely waste your time. There are people with way more serious issues that get denied. Don't bother. You've done all you could and you just have to remain vigilant and keep checking your credit reports.
posted by rancher at 8:59 AM on March 21, 2015 [6 favorites]


Response by poster: I know changing a SSN isn't really an option. I'm mostly just concerned about how to (a) monitor the use of my SSN and/or drivers license # and (b) make it as difficult as possible for anyone to use any of my information. The number I'm contemplating changing is my phone number simply because it is an easy entry point to anyone trying to access accounts.
posted by awesomelyglorious at 9:09 AM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: So sorry to hear you're going through this. There are a few easy things you can do that will make it a lot harder to use your information against you. It looks like you've already done a bunch of these, but I thought I'd write them out for other people in your situation.

First, you can "freeze your credit" with each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, 1-800-685-1111; Experian, 1-888-397-3742; and TransUnion, 1-800-916-8800). When you put a "freeze" on your credit all of your existing lines of credit (mortgages, credit cards) will continue to work as before, but nobody can use your SSN to do things like take out new credit cards, get new loans, etc. This will be free if you've filed a police report regarding potential identity theft.

If, in the future, you want to create a new line of credit, you can call up the credit bureaus again and ask them to temporarily unfreeze your credit for a few days (you'll set a password up to do this). They might charge you a few bucks to make these changes depending on where you live.

Basically, when you freeze your credit, it will be a tiny bit more work for you to open new lines of credit, but you won't have to worry about your credit being used by other people.

Second, you can call up all the places where you have accounts that matter to you (e.g., banks) and, if possible, set up a second layer of security. For example, my Bank of America is protected behind a 12-digit passcode rather than the last four digits of my SSN. Most financial institutions will have mechanisms that allow you to do this sort of thing.

Third, depending on where you live, you might be able to get a new driver's license and driver's license number. SSNs are much harder to change the driver's license numbers. I wouldn't worry too much about changing your phone number unless you're being actively harassed.
posted by eisenkr at 9:59 AM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


If it were me, I'd get a credit report every couple of months to see if there's been any weird activity.
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:10 PM on March 21, 2015


Have you contacted the DMV to see what options are available for your DL?

In case the thief is monitoring your trash, get a heavy-duty shredder.

FWIW, I've used a few credit monitoring services- and for me, the best one was the one offered directly by Equifax, i.e., it was not offered through my Bank/Equifax offering a linked service. I moved apartments, opened a women's speciality store credit account, then opened another credit card, etc. The Equifax alerts always showed up eerily fast in my inbox. I had to cancel it because it was so expensive, but I'd go back in a heartbeat if I suspected identity theft. YMMV.
posted by invisible ink at 12:25 PM on March 21, 2015


WTF? You live in a place where someone actively rips through your garbage stealing papers? That's what I'd be concerned about. I'd want the cops to put a stop to that bullshit or at least grab the person doing it and look into why.

All that information is actually not secret. In theory I could go around telling people my SSN all day long. It's the places that inappropriately use that as some sort of password-like security secret, assuming that anyone who knows it must be me that are the problem. The only thing you can really do is monitor your credit reports and report any actual fraud.
posted by ctmf at 2:26 PM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You don't need to change your actual phone number in order to get a new number from Google Voice, route it to forward to your cell, and then switch your contact info with all your financial institutions to that #.
posted by deludingmyself at 3:39 PM on March 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


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