Stolen Mail and CC
 

In the last month, both my wife and I had security problems with our credit cards.

For my visa, someone tried to use those free cheques that comes with my monthly statements to make a deposit into their account. Luckily the bank caught it so crisis averted and they reissued a new cc. As for my wife, someone cancelled her master card and issued another supplementary card for themselves. They used it for about $400 worth of gas around Vancouver, but fortunately, master card (or I guess the gas stations) will absorb the costs.

Our assumption is that the thief took our mail at some point in time, so was able to access our personal information to pull some of this off. Anyhow, was wondering if anyone had been in a similar situation and what measures you took to make things more secure. Should I just reissue new cards for everything or would that not help at all?

Reissue new cards and start fresh

I assume you live in a house? Then I say installed a Security Camera with Night Vision point to your mail box, if the thief comes stealing your mail then you have it on tape then report it to the police.

sign up for credit alert from your local bank.

$15/mo keep it around for 6 months. crooks only have a short period of time before they can use shit.

inform all financial institutions you deal with - be prepared get treated like a fraudster next time you apply for something (think of it as for your own protection).

you could also buy a locking mailbox

^ locking mail box is a cheap investment for decent security, get a sturdy one as well