The Moab City Police Department saved my identity and my vacation.
Just a reminder to lock your car doors. Yes, even in our small town, and I was only 30 feet away from my car, I was an unsuspecting victim of identity theft. I am a Realtor, and had been working with a female customer for a couple of weeks, showing her property that she was interested in buying.
While out jogging, she would pass by our office and would stop in every once in awhile and visit. It seemed like we were getting close to writing an offer on a house she loved. She wanted go back to the property for one last look before writing an offer. Because she had been out jogging and without a car, she jumped in my car with me and away we went.
She politely stayed outside while I went inside to turn on the lights to get the house ready to view. While I was inside the house, she was outside going through my purse that was on the floor in the back seat of my car. She took my driver’s license, and my credit cards, and then waited for me to come back outside and get her.
We walked through the house together; all the while, she was saying she loved the house and wanted her dad to see it too before she wrote the contract. She called her dad and he would not be available until later that day. So we headed back to my office and she asked me to drop her off at a convenient store near our office, and so I did.
It was late afternoon and I still had a new contract that I needed to finish before I left for a three-week vacation the next morning. Starving, I decided to go to the drive-thru and grab some lunch and head back to finish my work. I ordered and drove up to the window to pay, and to my horror, my wallet was empty.
Yes, I called the police and the credit card company. She had made some charges on some of my credit cards, but not all of them. I canceled the card she had put multiple charges on and put a block on the cards she hadn’t used yet.
Getting on a plane in the morning and traveling outside of the country without my driver’s license and canceled credit cards was going to be a problem.
The Moab City Police arrived quickly and I gave them a description of her, where I had dropped her off and the places the credit card company said recent credit card charges were made.
The police quickly left and went to check video cameras from the convenience store. Luckily, as the police were entering the store, she decided to leave with her hoodie up.
A quick check on the video identified her, and Officer Woodard took off after her on foot. Yes, I was thrilled he retrieved all of my stuff in less than 30 minutes. I guess I wasn’t the only one she had set up; she had been busy and had many other people’s items as well.
I’m relieved and a thousand times thankful to the Moab City Police Department for its quick response and quick recovery.
Yes, I had a great vacation, and I now always lock my car doors.
