My Debit Card Number Was Stolen; Is Yours Safe?

 Just after our Entrepreneur Days conference a few weeks ago, which was one of the best yet; I attended two events in a row, and then took the family and some of our business advisors to the Beach Retreat for a week.

When I got home, I realized that someone had stolen the debit card number on my business account. The culprit went shopping at several grocery stores and Home Depot in Los Angeles before I could cancel the card.

So I spent the next week figuring out what happened, contacting the affected merchants, filing police reports and working with the bank.

The crook spent almost $6,000 (that was designated to pay bills) and stole one week of my already full life. Then the decline notices started coming in on all our automatic payments.

Then the bank said they didn’t think they could cover the loss so we changed banks. Tomorrow I will spend the day changing all the bank info on all the online accounts and explaining what happened to all the companies that were involved.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because 1 out of 6 people are affected by white collar crime like this – credit card fraud.

When it happened, I called several police departments and looked for info online. Nothing I heard and found was consistent. No one knew where to start or what to do.

I joined LifeLock and they’ve taken some action but they don’t handle this kind of stuff after it happens.

So based on this month’s experience, here is my advice:

*Don’t travel with a debit card.

*Set up online banking so you can monitor your accounts often.

*Monitor your bank accounts often.

*Join LifeLock.com. (It’s $10/month per person.)

If you discover that your account or identity has been compromised, call the number on the back of your credit card immediately to cancel the card and move the money out of your bank account if you can. (With online banking, you can move it on the weekend even though the bank is closed.)

Compile a list of your credit cards, their numbers and the emergency number on the back of the card to call. File this with your important papers. If they are stolen, cancel them immediately.

Don’t carry checks with you when you travel unless you need them and make sure you always know where your checkbook is.

When the bank resolves this issue, they will charge you a fee of between $50 and $200.

This is just the beginning of what I have learned.

Even though I may be out a lot of money, the worst thing about this event is the time I have lost.

We were just about to announce a few new big projects for our Protégés and this has set us back a whole week.

But that doesn’t matter because even though we have been delayed, we haven’t been discouraged or disabled.

So don’t let setbacks keep you from reaching your goals. Life is too short.

And always keep track of your debit cards!

So many books, so little time to waste …

Rhea!

Last 5 posts by Rhea Perry

• How Much Do You Invest in Your Education? - December 15th, 2008
• Joint Venturing with your Kids - December 11th, 2008
• Business is shifting from offline to online - December 5th, 2008
• Be Thankful for the Tragedies this Thanksgiving Day - November 27th, 2008
• It's Always Time to Be Thankful - November 21st, 2008