I logged onto the my internet credit union file today & found all the transactions that had been done using my credit card #. One actually had a phone # for the store, so I called the store....a small shoe store in Kansas. The most wonderful helpful people I could ever imagine. I was put in touch with the owner. He had no idea that is had been a fraud purchase. They hadn't sent out the merchandise yet, so my call saved him from sending out the purchase. In return, he provided me with the name of the person it was being shipped to....name, address, phone #, the email address, & the fact that the security code on the back of my credit card had been necessary to make the purchase.

I know that information wasn't in the paperwork that was stolen & also realize that a complete credit card # isn't on receipts in the first place. The only place where that information could have come from was from the person who took my credit card at the motel that Sunday night.......the plot thickens.

The motel knew what truck was mine & had it connected with the credit card # & security # on the back of the card. If they broke into the truck & stole the paperwork to make it look like that was where all the identity information came from, they it would take away from the possibility that the theft came from an inside job at the motel itself. That makes sense as to why my GPS system, my computer, & digital camera weren't stolen. The only reason the flute was stolen was because it was at the bottom of the bag where the papers were....it was stolen by default.

There were 9 other transactions (5 were for the same company...a cell phone company & impossible to reach a real person at). I was able to contact the other 5 companies & get the information for where the police could contact & get all the personal information for the accounts that were being paid for & items being purchased & shiped to locations. These companies were big & wouldn't give me the information, but they were willing to give me all the information so the police could get to the necessary information.

I had called the police station yesterday & they gave me a # to call to get in touch with a detective.....so I wouldn't have to wait for the 7 to 10 days for the report to get into the system. I called the # & got a rather jerky police person who was trying to brush me off, but I stood my ground & insisted on getting through to someone. Unfortunately, it was lunch time & I got a voicemail....so left a message.

Right after that, I got a call from the reported at the Albequerque newspaper (that I had contacted on Tuesday). She wanted to ask me about what happened & we started talking....I told her about all the information I had found out & found out she was an investigative reporter that worked with the police on cases like mine. She immediately contacted her contacts in the police department & I got a call back immediately from a sargent....telling me that a detective would be calling me tomorrow morning & for me to get all the information I had together & fax it to them.....from my Credit union & the companies I had contacted.

I never heard back from the voice message I had left earlier, but the reporter really got action going for me with her contacts. On top of that, she contacted the motel to find out if the person that was being shipped the items to worked for the hotel.....checked out the address & contacted the motels main office. She put together an article for tomorrows paper telling everyone about the flute & that a reward will be available for information that leads to the return of the flute.

I am amazed at how much information I was able to put together as the person who was stolen from. I think my gut feelings about the who ever in working in the motel being involved has to be right on & when I talked to the initial sargent, he was also in agreement with my thinking. He also suggested that I start calling the pawn shops even though they have a pawn group that works that area, but I also need to check on ebay & see if my flute is being listed there......chances might be that they don't want to get caught having a stolen flute at a pawn shop, but dumping in on ebay might be an easy way out since they seem to be pretty internet savy. Either that, or they will just dump the flute trying not to get caught....this is where hopefully the reward will be incentive to get the flute back.

I feel so blessed that there are people out there like the investigative reporter who take the time & care about situations like this. Even if it doesn't lead to anything, just knowing that someone cared enough to help me in a situation like this really means so much....I don't even have the right words to express how wonderful if makes me feel that someone really cares.

Putting all the information together for the police is my current project & then I have to deal with closing all my bank accounts & getting the bank to help me get all their information to the police. The lady at the bank didn't seem to understand about all the information I was able to get from even the pending transactions even if they don't go through...the information is still there & the companies have the information about the persons account or the shipping address.

Even if the computer makes the ID theft easier for the crooks to pull this kind of thing with, we also have the internet capability to get information to fight back & provide enough information to the police to make their job easier in finding the people who are pulling the ID theft. I know that my motive in finding the person is more in getting my flute back, but I also have a good feeling that I am able to actually help the police get the information needed to catch the person/people/motel workers scham.

It is important for us to fight back against things like this & not just sit back wanting the police to do all the work when they are overloaded with ID theft since it's becomming so previlent. It will be interesting to see what actually comes of all of this. It does seem that it's more complicated than just someone breaking into my truck & stealing the papers & pulling the ID theft on it.

Will see what tomorrow brings,
Debbie