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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Comments on What To Do When Credit Cards Are Stolen or Lost
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67 Posted by babyjalen02 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:01PM EDT Report Abuse
I have done all the things that you have said to do and someone still stole my identity, right under my nose!
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68 Posted by ed1161 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse
I had my purse stolen several years back, cancelled the cards and started all over. I wrote See ID on the back and have since called out cashiers who have not asked. With a few stores I have even stopped shopping there based on the attitudes of the casher/manager when I asked why they did not ask for ID when it says Ask. Use your consumer dollars to make a statement!! couple of hints: if you ever give your cc to a cashier who walks away from you (restaurant, etc) as soon as you get the card back - look to make sure it is yours. A friend was handed back one of those fake CC that come in the mail. We quietly went to the hostess stand, asked for the maager and that employee was fired. Also, watch for people using camera phones around your card. I saw on a TV special that a kid "waiting" to check out was talking on his phone. The customer having the same type of phone heard the click noise of a photo being taken and realized the kid took a photo of her CC on the counter.
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69 Posted by kristisherman on Thu Mar 29, 2007 11:37AM EDT Report Abuse
I use to waitress...I found I always got a larger tip when I asked for ID's of people whose credit card said "see ID". I would say it is amazing how much they appreciated me asking, but if you think about it, why else would they have written it. If your credit card says see ID start giving positive reinforcement and soon everyone will be asking (if they are allowed). Ever since I got my drivers lisence my mother has forced me to photocopy front and back of everything. Now I always have all the information I need in a file at home.
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70 Posted by jen081885 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:32PM EDT Report Abuse
Sometimes at the grocery store i use my boyfriends debit card. The card had HIS picture on it! And they still let me use it. I made copies of all my credit cards, front and back. Its a great idea.
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71 Posted by rae_49 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:26PM EDT Report Abuse
Carry one credit card that you use mostly. I am a cashier and people open their wallets and have more credit cards in them then carter has pills. if their wallet are stolen or lost the theives will have a field day buying stuff. Cash is still king use it more when possible. another eye opener when u go for dinner or use credit card make sure you get yours back sometimes people get back and expired one from restauants where fraud is being done was sent a e-mail by a friend that stuff like this happens or cell phones with cameras people might use to snap your credit or debit number too.
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72 Posted by kyahay26 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:55PM EDT Report Abuse
well the article was helpful. last year i forgot my ATM card in the ATM machine and next day realized that i don't have card. i canceled the card and thanks god there was no transaction but i never checked my credit score or put any alert. is it too late to do that? i aslo have few more questions. 1- i m unable to access the "annualcreditreport.com" with following error Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://ej.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp" on this server. Reference #18.172cf648.1175729276.1ac6b8 2- why i need to pay money to see my credit report? why its not free.
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73 Posted by yanetalex_girl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:54PM EDT Report Abuse
next time put some phone mnumbers....about the information.....for example phone number for card missing....soo yeah....that's all ....anyway thanks...
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74 Posted by gazerdude on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:06PM EDT Report Abuse
I alway thank a teller who asks to see my ID. I let them know it is not a bother to me but important to me that they ask!
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75 Posted by lunarrays on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:00PM EDT Report Abuse
BTW - Look atporting number 79...my pint about these morons selling protection. Posting number 67 says you should sign your cards, not a good idea. If there is no signaure on the back of your card, the sales person is supposed to ask for your ID...which is what you want them to do. The sales people who atually look for a signature on the back of your card are the very same ones that will ask for ID if you did not sign it. So there is no benefit to signing you card other than to give a criminal an opportunity to practice signing your name using the example ou gave on the back of the card.
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76 Posted by aym1120 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:00PM EDT Report Abuse
Marshalls and TJMaxx are required to ask for picture ID, I work their part-time on weekends and I have customers that get upset (a few have cursed me out) because we do ask for picture ID. This situation of asking for ID is a real issue but I'd rather the comsumer be safe than sorry, pkease remember that hackers can get into retail computer systems so none of us are fully safe.
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77 Posted by karenhanner on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse
my wallet was stolen last week and I went through all of this as well. This is really good advice. I did all of it but I'm going to forward to my friends.
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66 Posted by laura012bp on Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:13AM EDT Report Abuse
It's not a good idea to use a photocopy to deal with stealing. The owner of lost property only keep the number of all the card,but sometimes the theft is very clever. the best way is that one should keep both eyes open.