Drivers’ License Dramas: Protect Your Identity When Your ID is Lost
My best friend from high school and her husband recently took a pretty dreamy vacation. With three teens and pre-teens in their house, it seemed like they never had enough time for themselves and one another. After a particularly stressful month they decided to remedy the situation by planning a parents-only vacation where they could focus on themselves.
After debating one Caribbean locale over another, they decided upon the east coast of Mexico. They spent a fabulous week at a gorgeous resort, exploring ruins and surf and beach walking. They also took advantage of one of the more athletic excursions offered by the resort that week: Scuba diving.
As you might imagine, if a resort is going to take on the responsibility of keeping you alive while you’re underwater, you’ll be signing some legal docs before you get on the boat. And in addition to paperwork, my friends had to leave their drivers’ licenses with the excursion desk until they returned safely. It’s this last detail that got my friends into a pickle.
After a delightful day of diving they returned to the excursion desk, still stoked over their great day. Papers signed, outing paid for, only one detail to complete the transaction: Return the drivers licenses. After a bit of hunting, the clerk couldn’t find them. His co-worker had put them somewhere safe, and that co-worker was now off duty. Realizing their dinner reservation was in a couple hours, they told the clerk they’d be back the following day to get them.
You’ve probably guessed where this is going. Several attempts to retrieve the licenses resulted in a fail. They returned home using their passports, focused on the inconvenience of having to get new IDs. While she had worried about the loss of her license, she hadn’t realized the extent to which her identity was at risk.
In the event your license is stolen there are a couple easy steps you can take to insure your identity isn’t abused by the person who has it.
Check and Double Check: Check all three of your credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com. This is best way to prevent a thief trying to obtain credit in your name, and you can also protest fraudulently opened accounts at that time.
Monitor the Situation: Consider a credit monitoring service that will allow you to keep tabs on any attempt to obtain credit in your name. It’s also good idea to place a fraud alert on your credit reports. This alerts potential creditors they may be dealing with an identity thief. This can be done with each credit bureau when you pull your reports.
Crime Time: Identity thieves can use your drivers’ license number and a few internet resources to create a new license, one with their picture and your name and license number. If they commit crimes while carrying this license, you’ll be the one who gets ‘credit’ for them. Report a lost drivers’ license to the police as soon as you realize you’ve lost it and retain a copy of that report. If you fall on the better-safe-than-sorry side of the fence, keep a copy in your wallet in the event you’re stopped and questioned for someone else’s evil doings.
Take it to Management: If your license disappears while in the care of a business, report it to the management. Having an extra eye on the situation not only increases the likelihood it will be found, it can prevent criminal activity from ensuing.
Alicia Diefenbach is a former financial crime-fighter for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. After spending nearly a decade helping fraud victims seek restitution and educating consumers about various aspects of personal financial management, she went into business for herself.
Alicia now designs fun, non-commercial presentations and materials that help people make financial decisions that lead to success. She is a published consumer writer and speaks on topics that educate women, teens, adults, and seniors on various aspects of fraud awareness, and successful personal financial management.
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