[...] Kudos to Dell for providing that service. Anyone have any more burglary experience and insights? Do share in the comments. — Gina Trapani Reader Story: Broken Window, Stolen Goods [Get Rich Slowly] [...]

It costs the thief nothing to break your car window to see if the stuff in the car is valuable. Keep anything of potential value hidden, out of sight, or in the trunk.

This all can be prevented if you had an ALARM in your car. PROTECT YOUR ASSETS!

[...] GetRichSlowly.com has an article that tells what happened when one of the site’s visitors had their car broken into. [...]

[...] What to do when your “car had been broken into, and my valuables stolen“. a story from http://www.getrichslowly.org [...]

Many years ago I met a friend for lunch in NYC, parked and stowed my bag in the truck for safe keeping. When I came back to the car about an hour later, my trunk had been broken into. My new filofax, an antique cutglass beer pitcher w/ matching glasses and a blanket knitted by my grandmother were stolen.

Lessons learned: unload the trunk regularly, and if you have to stow things away while you shop/eat, stow your stuff before you park and not in the area where you plan to park, then park.

d

I dont know where everyone thinks Im a her… Identity Crisis?

Yeah, My friends run truecrypt on their lappies, and once I replace mine I will run it there too.

I had my laptop in a laptop backpack cameras in camera bag, and they were stuffed between the backseat and the front seat, so they werent all that visible.

In that area, it was more to check if there was something valuable.

Oh well.

Im still not a her.

-Israel

Contacted the store because the have big “24 hour video surveillance” signs. Openly told me their new cameras went out of focus after the sun went down. How nice of them.

F’n thieves.

To keep data secure I would recommend TureCrypt http://www.truecrypt.org/ which is available for Windows 2000/2003/XP and Linux. It is free and has even hidden volume feature.

Get separate policies on your cameras and laptop if you want to insure them. I have a few separate policies with State Farm for $30/yr to cover about $1000 of valuables. They want a receipt and picture to keep on file for little policies. If you make a claim and don’t get renewed on the policy as a result, then it’s not such a big deal.

It sucks that it happened, but you really shouldnt be leaving that sort of thing in your car.

the fact that someone probably scanning through my pictures and what not , left me feeling violated, not to mention the fact they were all up in my bedroom!

but at least you werent physically hurt, that’s the thing i focussed on

material goods can be replaced, but life/limb isnt

I feel your pain for sure though. As far as encryption I have to recommend whole disk encryption, not just select folders and files.

Thumb drives are a good idea to a point – if they’re encrypted as well. The odds of losing one of those are a lot greater than having a laptop stolen.

Hope everything works out for you though.

What to do when you’ve been burglarized…

A guest poster at the Get Rich Slowly blog tells the story of how burglars broke into her car and stole her camera, MP3 player, debit card, passport and laptop. It’s an interesting blow-by-blow of the whole situation, and……

was in SF this weekend too and my friend put extra emphasis about leaving valuables in car. in one instance, after who knows how long to find parking, I realized I left my cell phone in the car in plain sight. was I paranoid enough to walk all the way back to retrieve it? you betcha.

even in southern california, you should still take care of your belongings in a vehicle, no matter your location. most crimes are committed by people from adjacent cities, after all.

good luck w/ everything though, hopefully this is just petty theft and won’t involve with further identity theft.

* Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; http://www.equifax.com
* Experian: 1-888-397-3742; http://www.experian.com
* TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; http://www.transunion.com

Im calling these numbers now, so I can put the alerts.

Seems like they can add the alert to all other reporting agencies if they are sucessful with one agency. I called Equifax first.

The alert works only for 90 Days. I hope that these guys arent as savy to look for sensitive files.

At least im on the ball.

I should add that when someone “broke into my car” (see Jd’s comment #16 above), they actually just opened the unlocked door and popped the trunk. I drive an eyesore 10-year-old model with no stereo or anything else of great value in the car. I rarely lock it when I’m in “safe” setting (like our driveway). I’d rather lose the jumper cables than lose the jumper cables AND have a broken window or jimmied lock. Maybe this is stupid? Sometimes I worry about some crazed vandal trashing the interior just to be mean.

They stole your passport and you’re scared because they mysteriously found out your birthdate somehow? Uhhh… don’t be scared. It’s not magic. I agree with the other posters though, the Western Union thing could be just the beginning.

I’m not even sure insurance will help you if you leave stuff out in plain view.

This is a reminder for me to make an insurance video for my home, make better backups of my computers, use encryption software, and make a list of my financial account information.

You need to be VERY vigilant about your credit, with the Western Union transaction already happening, you need to freeze your credit (I believe California has a law requiring this if you request it) and have ALL of your current accounts closed and re-opened under new numbers.

People keep so much personal information on their computers and phones…I don’t keep anything on my computer at home, even. My wife and I don’t even email or instant message each other numbers when we need them as those are insecure.

If someone steals your laptop, you want them to find nothing more than a bunch of software. I don’t even use password helpers like those built in to Firefox for that very reason.

My wife’s car was broken into because she left a jacket on the back seat. There was nothing under it, but the thief assumed there might be.

I park my car in front of my house. I used to keep all sorts of stuff in the trunk, including computers and camera equipment. This story reflects poorly on my intelligence, and I admit that upfront. Fortunately, I learned a lesson.

In February 2005, right around the time I was getting wise to personal finance, somebody shattered the glass on the driver’s window. The thief grabbed my cell phone, which was in plain site, popped my trunk (which is easy to do on a Focus — the button is obvious), grabbed my camera bag, and took off.

The next day, I called the cell phone and somebody answered. I should have been sneakier, but I wasn’t. I simply cancelled the service and ordered a replacement (which insurance covered, but reluctantly). My camera equipment — $3000 worth — was gone. Or so I thought.

A few weeks later, a friend was mowing my lawn. I was working in the shop. Midway through the job, he came running to see me. “There’s some camera equipment in the bushes.” Indeed there was. My stuff had been dumped, as if the thief was looking for something and could not find it. It was mostly okay — the bag was covered in cat urine, and some of the lenses had condensation, but most of the stuff was there. (Over the past year, I’ve found more of the stuff in odd places in the yard.)

What really boggles my mind is that in plain view on the back seat were several thousand dollars in checks that I had already endorsed. I had them ready for deposit the next morning. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

As a footnote: several months later, a thief broke into my wife’s car. They didn’t break the windows. What did they steal from her? An emergency roadside kit with flares, first-aid supplies, fire extinguisher, etc. WTF?

I don’t get it. Our neighborhood thieves stole a cell phone and an emergency kit from us, but they left behind $3000 of camera equipment and just as much in checks.

(p.s. I don’t do this sort of stupid stuff anymore. Now all you’re going to find in my car are bad science fiction novels and lots of water bottles.)

I would urge you, if you have not already done so, to contact all three credit reporting companies, get a copy of your reports and put a fraud alert on your accounts. Since the bad guys now have your old tax returns, they also have your social security number. You’ve already mentioned that they have your DOB, and probably a lot of other information that you’ve forgotten were on that laptop. You are a PRIME target for identity theft.

That Western Union wire could be just the start of a huge problem that could take years to straighten out. Your friendly thief has enough in formation to apply for a mortgage, bank loans, and the list goes on and on.

It’s good to keep cool, but don’t get complacent – you could be in a bad way.