What To Do When Credit Cards Are Stolen or Lost
Fri Mar 23, 2007 8:39PM EDT
See Comments (77)
I lost my purse one night this week after my daughter's basketball game an hour from our home. By the time I tracked it down to a chain coffee shop, one of my credit cards had already been used a few times along the northeast corridor from New Jersey to Massachusetts.
The good news is my purse and all the other contents of my wallet are back in my hands. The bad news is I've spent lots of time doing damage control on my credit status, hoping a few full tanks of gas is the least someone will try to steal in my name.
I'm sharing this to pass on some tips about what to do if a credit card is lost or stolen and you're worried your credit may be compromised.
• Call to report the card missing. When I called my card's 800 customer service number, I found out about the gas station charges that were not made by me or my husband. So I closed the account and requested a new card. Then I immediately canceled the other credit card in my wallet, and my ATM card.
• Find out what you need to do to dispute fraudulent charges so you are not responsible for them. Review your next bill very carefully. My card company is sending me a letter outlining the disputed charges, and if I concur they are all listed, I'll sign it and send it back.
• Place a temporary, 90-day alert on your credit report to thwart thieves from opening accounts with your credit history. You can place the alert through any of the three major reporting bureaus, Experian, Eqiufax, or Transunion. Whichever one you choose will notify the other two of the alert status.
• Review your credit report. When you place a temporary alert on your credit report, you can view your credit report for free right away. This is a good time to remind you that we should be checking our credit reports with all three credit bureaus at least once every year. Each allows free reviews once every 12 months. Check out Chris Null's cautionary tale about what happened when he did his regularly scheduled credit check. You can request reports from all three bureaus on one web site, AnnualCreditReport.com. Check back to see if there is any suspicious activity, such as accounts opened that you didn't open, if you have a missing or stolen card.
I also canceled my ATM card even though there had been no activity on my bank account. The new one that I'll get will have my photo on it, a deterrent to any thieves who may pass off a debit card as their own.
That's my after-the-sad-tale advice. But here are some tips from the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Action, a consumer education and advocacy group based in San Francisco, for how to protect your cards and credit in case of theft.
• Carry only the cards you anticipate you'll need to use.
• Don't carry PIN numbers for your ATM or credit cards in your wallet or purse. Seems like a no-brainer, but you never know. Don't use birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, or phone numbers as your pin numbers. By the way, don't carry your Social Security number in your wallet or purse, either.
• Keep a record of your card numbers, expiration dates, and telephone numbers of each card company in a safe place (say, not in your wallet or purse) so you can report a theft quickly.
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7 Posted by mjohnson3@ameritech.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:23PM EDT Report Abuse
Another problem if you are a senior citizen is that on your Medicare card is your social security number....this is something that needs to be changed..I recently had my purse stolen and altho I was able to stop all credit cards and did a report to the credit bureau....my only fear is my social security number being in someone elses hands....so far, so good, but it is still making me nervous....I have now decided to not carry my Medicare card wtih me.... Mary JOhnson....mjohnson3@ameritech.net
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8 Posted by mikeybbadd3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:20PM EDT Report Abuse
when you photo copy a word of caution,,, some copy machines have a hard drive in them that retains your info, if the machine is 5 years old or NEWER the chance is it has the hard drive, only the color copier, not black and whites
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9 Posted by cjamesp2p on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:26PM EDT Report Abuse
My wife just recently had her purse stolen and as novices we went through a pretty brutal initiation. The purse contained her credit card, a bank card, her mostly used check book and her drivers license. We thought we covered everything by cancelling the cards and the un-used checks. The surprise came when we found our checking account significantly overdrawn. The crooks had taken other checks they had stolen and written checks payable to my wife. They then endorsed the checks forging my wifes name and presented them to be cashed at the drive-up of one of the local branches of our bank using my wife's ID and our account number. The bank cashed the checks and gave the cash to the crooks. When the checks were found to be either stopped or on closed accounts, they took the money to cover them from our account. The crooks did this over a three day time to the tune of $4800. Ouch! The bank did admit they should have caught that the ID presented was not the person presenting it (so much for checking) and refunded the money to our account. This was after the crooks tried it one more time and the bank retrieved my wife's id. The crooks sped away and the police seem un-interested in pursing. The moral to this long story is (1) If there is a chance that your ID and checking account info has ever been compromised, I suggest strongly that you close your account immediately. (2) Some people don't pay attention even if the id is presented. PS...The episode with our account happened on our way out of town to go skiing at spring break and wasn't resolved until we returned and we found out later that the crooks even spelled my wife's name wrong while endorsing one check.
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10 Posted by ray_parker2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse
place a photo of the person on the card,with a pass word, and matching finger print.
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11 Posted by kendall_chong on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:49PM EDT Report Abuse
Read the credit card agreement also. Most agreements say that the maximum you are liable for unauthorized charges is $50 (per card).
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12 Posted by writing72000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:51PM EDT Report Abuse
Good Article! However, I went a step further and photocopied all my credit cards, my social security card, my passport and my drivers license. So if any of these go missing I have copies of all these in my safe box at home.
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13 Posted by salletag on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:01PM EDT Report Abuse
THEY DON'T EVEN SAY THE MOST OBVIOUS TIP... IF YOUR CREDIT CARD IS LOT OR STOLEN YOU HAVE TO CUT IT UP WITH SCISSORS SO NOBODYE ELSE CAN USE IT.
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14 Posted by julian2005@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:44PM EDT Report Abuse
With regards to placing a credit alert, it is, for the most part useless. Equifax told me it is voluntary. And if the creditor calls, if they can't get a hold of you, they'll go ahead and process it. As to checking your credit accounts once a year, again, this is useless. Once a year is too long. Thieves can do a lot of stealing during a 12 month period. I just don't want anybody to get a comfortable feeling that they will be OK by doing what the article says.
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15 Posted by hibakhersi on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse
My cards say to request a photo id. yet I rarely rarely rarely am asked for one. PS: shopped at DSW and their system was hacked into so someone charged my card (had to replace it and dispute the claim). A hassle.
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16 Posted by scoopself on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:08PM EDT Report Abuse
anyone recommend what to do if your social security card has been stolen because it was in my wallet??
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17 Posted by rm386@pacbell.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:44PM EDT Report Abuse
To everyone saying just write "See Id" on the back of your credit card, that does no good. Retailers are NOT required to check ID. Read over the privacy policy on your credit cards....in fact, most credit card companies say you don't have to present ID. When retailers do check for id, it's usually only to cover their costs if the card comes back stolen and they can't get back the product or the money. And if you do lose your debit card, there's not much you can do as far as writing show id/document license # like some others suggested. All someone has to do is press cancel to run it as credit (without a pin) with most retail pin-pad's.
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18 Posted by bbradbury@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:03PM EDT Report Abuse
My wallet was stolen (at work) and the thief (thieves) used both my Citicard and my Capital One card. Capital One called my husband before I was even home from work to let him know of some unusual activity. He was smart enough to cancel the card. When I got home, we also cancelled the Citicard (who never called us). Apparently none of the stores where the purchases were made asked for ID. The card had my name on it, and I think a man stole my wallet, so unless he had a female accomplice, Joan is not a man's name. I guess they also don't compare signatures when you sign the sales receipt. I was told I won't be responsible for the charges (about $1100 in total), but coincidentally, Capital One just increased the interest rate on the new card they issued me. As for the police, an officer came and took a statement, gave me a case number, and that's all I have heard from them. I called a couple times, no response. Any wonder the bad guys aren't really worried about getting caught?
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19 Posted by sallis7@sbcglobal.net on Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse
As soon as you receive a new card, instead of signing the back, write the letters "C. I. D." which means: See ID. You can also write " Ask for D. L." which means: Ask for Driver's License". Your State ID or Driver's License have your picture on them. Unless you have an evil twin no one else should be able to pass as you. Be safe. Cautious Right outside of Chicago.
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20 Posted by starnet@pacbell.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:39PM EDT Report Abuse
One must be careful to use debit cards. I would say 9 out of 10 stores will never look at the identification on the person using the debit card. In my opinion, a credit card is more safer to use than a debit card. Plus, as long as you pay off everything you buy on the card, it helps your credit history more. I would include my thoughts as a precaution: 1. Never bring more than one credit card. If your wallet ever gets lost, there is only 1 credit card that you have to worry about. 2. Take note of every card that you bring with you in your purse. Most convenience cards like gasoline cards would ask you for a zipcode to enter. However, if your id is included in your purse that was lost, they could use it. But if you have a list of the cards that you have in your purse, you could call the 800 numbers for lost cards and your liability will be controlled.
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21 Posted by sehowerton on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:12PM EDT Report Abuse
Haven't had I.D. theft yet, Had heard about "Lifelock.com" - join them, they said they will go to court for you if you have your I.D. stolen - so for about $200.00 a year, I get to sleep better knowing that they(bad guys) are unable to use my S.S.Number Steve H. - Palmdale,Ca.
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22 Posted by yadams458@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:54PM EDT Report Abuse
Writing "Photo ID required" in the signature line of a credit card isn't any guarentee. I have it written on all of mine and no has asked to see it yet! I asked a cashier why she hadn't even looked at the back of the card or an ID. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "The store doesn't tell us we have to do that." It isn't as DUH as you might think.
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23 Posted by uniqua7324 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:28PM EDT Report Abuse
Never carry all your credit cards or social security with you unless you are going to use it immediately...I always carry a seperate wallet for the cards I use often, and the others I leave at home until I really need to use it...Also, don't sign the back of any or your cards just put check ID.......
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24 Posted by garyf.70@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:06PM EDT Report Abuse
reply to starnet: if you pay everything off on your credit card every month it does nothing for your credit unless you use American Express. In fact I did that with my very first cc for 2 years and went to buy a car and I was told I had no prior credit history! I'd root for applying a fingerprint to the credit cards but then thats one more thing the thieves would steal from us GOOD GUYS! If there's a will there's a way!
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25 Posted by ic4rest@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse
Good advice and especially keeping card numbers, phone numbers, exp dts to report quickly. I don't have this but will be sure to get this done and kept at home in a safe place. I have been lucky to not lose my cards but had to dispute charges and report a lost/stolen and have new card issued which was stressful enough for me.
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6 Posted by jo5mora@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:37PM EDT Report Abuse
Do we all have to go back to caring cash? I just am fixing a mess from someone using my debt card number. How they got it off the internet I don't know-NEVER used it on the internet for anything! Thanks to someone living large off my account while spend my days, tracking charges, making phones, and filing reports. Shame on you!