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I hope this never happens to you.
Image source: Getty Images
Have you ever had your wallet disappear? I have once. I was a brand-new college student, and I lost it in the gym one afternoon. I discovered it was missing later that day while away from campus. This story has a happy ending — two fellow students from my Ethics class (how ironic) found my wallet and turned it into campus security, who contacted me so I could pick it up when I got back to school that evening.
While I got off lucky that time, if you lose your wallet, you may end up facing a world of financial hurt. When I was 18, I had only a driver’s license, a debit card, and a little cash in my wallet. As full-fledged adults, we tend to carry credit cards, insurance cards, and more. Keep reading to see what steps you should take if your wallet goes AWOL.
Step 1: Figure out what you’ve lost
Once you’ve made sure your wallet is truly missing, take a deep breath and sit down to make a list of what you had in it, so you can address each piece. You don’t want to forget anything, so if you’re reading this and HAVEN’T lost your wallet, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with what’s actually in there (and maybe take some less-necessary items out).
Step 2: Call your bank and credit card companies
If you had your bank card and credit cards in your wallet, call those companies ASAP to cancel your existing cards and have new ones sent to you. Time is really of the essence here, as the longer you wait to notify your bank about a lost debit card, the greater your liability will be. Most of the best credit cards come with $0 liability for a lost or stolen card, but you’re still going to want to call right away to get new cards issued and to alert the card issuers to possible fraudulent charges.
Step 3: Freeze your credit
It’s possible that if someone stole your wallet, they may have enough of your information to open new accounts in your name. I don’t say this to scare you, but to note that it’s a good idea to freeze your credit. Doing so basically locks down your identity to prevent anyone from accessing your credit reports with each of the three major credit bureaus. This way, no one can open fraudulent accounts. You may also want to sign up for a credit monitoring service while you’re at it.
Step 4: Notify the police
It’s unlikely your wallet will be recovered, but you may want to file a police report anyway. This way, you’ll have proof that you were the victim of a crime if you experience identity theft or fraud as a result of losing your wallet. Your bank or credit card companies may want the police report number, too, so remember to fill them in after you talk to the police. And hey, sometimes good samaritans do give found wallets to the police, so you may get lucky.
Step 5: Contact the Department of Motor Vehicles
It’s likely that your driver’s license is the main piece of ID you carry around in your wallet, so get the ball rolling on getting that replaced. You can likely find out what steps you need to take by visiting your state government’s website.
Step 6: Call your insurers
If you had cards for medical insurance in your wallet, you’ll need to get those replaced as well. The last thing you need is to have a medical emergency and be unable to show proof of insurance, so don’t put this off.
Step 7: Contact the Social Security Administration
It’s not a great idea to carry such a vital piece of your identity around, but if your Social Security card was in your lost wallet, you’ll need to contact the SSA to get a replacement. And double down on monitoring your credit — although I really recommend freezing it if you lost this card.
Mitigate your risk of potential loss
While it’s tempting (and possibly convenient) to keep multiple credit cards and pieces of identification in your wallet at all times, if you lose your fully loaded wallet, you’ll need to call even more card issuers and government offices. I recommend keeping just your daily financial essentials in your wallet, along with perhaps one piece of ID (like your driver’s license). For me, that’s my two most-used credit cards as well as a debit card for one of my two checking accounts, in case I need to take out cash. Everything else stays in a safe place at home for when I need it.
Consider taking some time to pare down the contents of your wallet to help save time and money should you lose it, and follow the above steps to move forward from it.
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