Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Ok ladies, once again stupidity on my part leads me here to give another warning. *sigh*
I was called into work last night (one of my few nights off *sniff*) I was only there for about 3 hours but during that time, someone broke into my car in the parking lot.
After finding my window shattered and my car rummaged through (ha! they tried to get my CD disk changer from under my seat-but it's bolted down!) it appeared the only thing that was taken was my cell phone and the hands-free/charger unit that it was in. They apparently didn't have time to get the really good stuff.
But aside from being pissed and feeling violated-I began to feel paranoid. If we think about the paperwork left in our cars-registration, insurance cards...address and full name is fully available. Next I'm thinking whoever has my cell phone now not only has my home phone number-but also all of the numbers of my closest contacts (my Dr.'s, hair tech..etc.)
So while a cell phone isn't the most expensive thing to replace if stolen (although I just had to pay $300 damnit!), it can be one of the most dangerous. I hadn't even given it a second thought-figured the battery was almost dead so might as well just leave it in the car...
(My window just HAD to be broken during some of the coldest days we're having, didn't it? Couldn't have been in summer..nooo) :eek:
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Sorry to hear about this.
I believe that many cell phones have password protection. I'm not sure if yours did, and I'd guess the password wouldn't be too hard to crack. But it's one more level of security, and I don't think a common street criminal has the brains to figure out the password.
Of course, I'm giving advice that I haven't even used myself. I've just been too lazy to set it up on my phone. But your post has motivated me to finally do it.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Hi Tia,
Yikes.. I'm sorry about that whole thing. That's so crazy. About the cellphone, I used to sell them for Verizon. I'm not sure what company you have, but I'm sure that you can call them, and have them de-activate that number, and give you a new one. Did you have insurance on the phone? If you did, you can claim it with them, and they'll send you a new one, for a charge. It's not nearly as much as the $300 you originally paid for it, at the time I worked for Verizon, I think a stolen-replacement was $50, and you received your phone in 3-5 days.
Again, I'm sorry this happened. There are way too many creeps in the world.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Whats scarry is the thief could go on the net and do a reverse look-up in the yellow pages and get your adress, even if you aren't listed in the regular ones. Just be extra careful. And, sorry this happened to you.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Tia,
Iam very sorry this happened to you. I just took a min to set my lock on mine. Be careful hun.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
I'm soo sorry this happened to you. I know if this happened to me I'd would do everyhting I could to atleast get those numbers back since I myself do not have a back up. This might sound stupid but you might try and text messageing your phone asking if you can work out a deal to get your phone back. Of course use extreme caution, and maybe you'll get lucky. Again I'm sorry to hear this happened to you, there are just some pretty low people out there.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Where was your car parked? Isn't there someone in the club parking lot? Geez it is disgusting you can't do ANYthing without fearing some asshole will steal your stuff and/or try to harm you. Aarrgg!
About the paperwork in you car: I have always used a separate mailing address, like at Mailboxes Etc for ALL my stuff. Those addresses look just like a regular apt address, like 123 Any St #345 - I use that mailbox for my license, credit cards, bank statements, utilities, insurance, everything. So if some shithead wants to try looking me up from some mail they found, they'll only find a Mailboxes Etc! And yeah, I've always been paranoid about people taking my phone and running up charges on it, so I've always used the lock thing. It's not terribly sophisticated, but like Santos said, most common street criminals likely won't have the brains to unlock it. If you're REALLY worried, you could always not store your home number or the number of your family members in there - you should at least be able to remember those....
Sorry to hear that happened to you. But try not to worry too much. Most likely it was just some punks stealing stuff to sell, and not interested in tracking you down.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
That's crap. I lost my cell when I was in Europe, and because it had a UK serial number, they couldn't do a thing about it as I wasn't in the UK (of all the places!). I didn't actually miss the phone itself, it was all the messages, numbers and recordings that I left on them, they were so personal and some which I had kept for over a year. My phone did have a pin code on it and was on silent with a half full battery. I just hope the person who got it had a tough time trying to suss it out.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Oh Tia, I'm so sorry! I am always paranoid about my car getting broken into so I almost never leave anything in there. When people tell me I'm paranoid I tell them stuff like this can actually happen. I'm sorry it had to happen to you.
Hey doesn't your club have security cameras outside in the parking lot? If they do they might be able to do something, at least you could take the tape to the police.
Shayden
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
I never had a cell phone stolen but have them turned into me as lost and found items alot of times, these password protected phones are Sooo easy to crack, it's been done, All the time, to try and reach the person who owns the phone by calling numbers.
Also there is a toll free, where you call with whatever plan you are on, and they turn the phone off ASAP, 24/7. No one can get anything it's not a valid number then.
If the person got it to run your bill up with calls, do this. And another, alot of cell phone co's. wont allow others to turn your cell on, for them to own once they don't pay YOUR bill.
AS far as people finding out where you live, always easy enough without a cell. This may be an pain in the ass for you, just have the phone turned off, and a police report made incase it pops up at a pawn shop, they have to take model/serial numbers on all items pawned/sold to them. And a report of the items on paperwork turned into the PD every night. IF your numbers are scartched off, a pawn shop can't/should not take it, thats illegal.
Good luck,
Pamela
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Just a reminder that since the enhanced Patriot Act authorized federal, state and local cops to poke even deeper into personal info to identify potential terrorists, use of a Mailboxes Etc. address now adds significant risk that if your address shows up in a police report that YOU will be the major subject of the investigation even if you were the innocent party that was ripped off.
Therefore, these days, you need to consider what you gain from using a "front" address i.e. safety from having your address discovered by a third party, versus what you may potentially lose by inviting law enforcement agencies to start "snooping" after your "front" address raises a red flag.
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
Heh, if something happens such that a red flag gets raised because of my Mailboxes Etc address, they can snoop all they want. All they'll find out is I'm a stripper with a bank account who pays her taxes!
Re:Ack!-tired of learning lessons the hard way!
What a bummer! I'm so sorry for your misfortune. :-[I'm always paranoid about people trying to break into my jeep. I'm pretty sure there simple to get into. I'd make sure to park your car somewhere else also. ;)