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Published On: Thu, Feb 13th, 2020

Who To Contact When Your Wallet Goes Missing

If you have ever lost your wallet or it has been stolen, one of your very first reactions is to panic. Instead of panicking, just take these easy 10 steps after your personal wallet or purse has gone missing. These important steps could help minimize any damage if someone has actually stolen your wallet as well as other things inside your wallet. Here are some smart things to look into when you lose your wallet or purse.

photo by Andrew Khorosahvin

  1. Immediately Call The Person Who Gave You Your Debit Card

Did you know that thieves can do an enormous amount of damage with your personal debit card in only a small amount of time? But no worries, just quickly call the financial institution or bank that had issued you your personal debit card, as this is a very important step to take if it goes missing. Let the bank know that you believe your personal card or wallet has been stolen. Your bank should right away be able to cancel your personal debit card and eventually issue you a new replacement card with a whole new account number. They should also confirm recently listed purchases that you made with your card to see transactions you made before losing your card.

If you decide to wait over two days and less than 60 days to actually report your debit card missing, you may be fined for up to $500 dollars in illegal purchases. So the sooner you report your card missing, the better. If you decide to make your missing card report after 60 days there may be a chance that you will be held responsible for each unauthorized sale made with your debit card.

  1. You Can Contact The Bank That Gave You Your Checkbook

Many thieves today may swiftly take money from your personal checking account after they steal your wallet or checkbook. You will need to take action like you did when you canceled your stolen or lost debit card. Call your financial institution or bank and kindly ask for an immediate freeze on your personal checking account. By doing this, thieves will no longer get to make further purchases using your personal checkbook.

  1. Immediately Call The Credit Card Company

It would be smart to contact each and every company that had issued your credit cards in the past, in order to correctly cancel the cards. If a thief ends up using your personal credit card before you actually report it lost or stolen, you should only be responsible for up to $50 of any unauthorized purchases.

  1. Make Sure You Get Fraud Alerts Put Up With The National Credit Bureaus

The last thing you want is thieves stealing your personal identity and then using your identity to open up a new credit card or various loans in your name. So, what is a smart way to keep yourself from something like this happening? You will want to contact one of the three general national credit bureaus in the world: Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. Calling one of these bureaus will allow you to quickly request that they put an immediate fraud alert on your personal credit report. Your personal fraud alerts should stay active free of charge for up to 90 days. Creditors are then required by law to completely confirm your personal identity before actually opening new credit cards in your name.

  1. You Should Consider Identity Theft Protection

You could still be vulnerable even after you’ve decided to cancel your personal checking account or debit and credit cards. Thieves will even use similar things in your wallet like your social security card to try and steal your identity. This is why it is important to just keep your social security card at your place in a safe place. Besides setting up various fraud alerts, you may also want to consider signing up for a business identity theft protection program for smarter protection.

  1. File a Police Report

Filing a quick and detailed police report is vital in protecting your identity from being stolen. If you are a past victim of identity theft then you should know that the thief probably used your personal identity to make fraud credit card accounts. Filing a detailed police report with the law enforcement is very important if your wallet or credit card becomes stolen. You just may need an official police report to receive a new social security card or driver’s license.

  1. Maybe Think About Replacing Your Social Security Card Quickly

Please do not ever put your Social Security card in your wallet or purse. Thieves tend to enjoy this specific card over others because they just enjoy having your card number. Thieves will have a much easier time applying for various loans or credit cards in your legal full name with this important information.

If you do keep your social security card in your wallet, it is best to immediately order an official credit freeze through any one of the three main credit bureaus out there. This way, it may help in preventing thieves from actually opening any more credit under your legal name unless you decide to remove the freeze yourself. In many instances, the Administration will only give you a new card, not a new social security number. You may be able to actually convince the administration to issue you a new social security number only if you can really prove that a person has used your current ssn to take your identity.

  1. Make Sure To Check Credit Reports In Case Of Strange Activities

You need to stay strong and hopeful after losing your wallet or debit card to ensure that people are not using your personal identity to open a new line of credit. Always check your credit reports regularly to ensure there is no weird activity going on.

  1. Apply For A New Driver’s License

If your license was one of the items stolen in your wallet, you will want to get it replaced right away. If you do not, you could possibly face a big fine if you’re eventually pulled over by an officer. You more than likely will have to visit a DMV to replace your drivers licence. The specific requirements for obtaining a new driver’s license vary by state, so remember to keep this in mind when going in to get a new one.

  1. Have You Ever Thought About Changing The Locks?

It might be around that time of the year to change your locks if you have ever stashed a main key to your house in your wallet or purse. A thief who has your address from you license and the main key to your place can quickly break into your home without you knowing. So, get the locks changed on your doors so that something like this does not happen.

  1. Replace Your Social Security Card

Knowing how to correctly replace a Social Security card in the state of South Carolina is vital. Whether you actually misplace your Social Security card or it just gets stolen, you will need to take several important steps to easily request a new replacement ssn card. Applying for a replacement social security card in South Carolina is somewhat easy to do.

No.1. Is to complete your SS-5 Application form. This is simple and can be successfully accomplished on the internet by quickly providing general information like your name, address, etc.

No.2. Is to carefully collect all the required documents for the social security application. Know what documents you will need to successfully apply for your brand new Social Security Card.

No.3. Is to carefully submit your application to your Social Security Office after it is completed. After completing an SS-5 form and collecting the documents you will want to present them to the Social Security Administration Office. You can do this by either delivering your documents in person or just by sending your documents by way of mail.

Getting your replacement social security card in South Carolina is a serious thing to get done if you ever lose your main social security card or it gets stolen.

Author: Brenda Vollman

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