What to do if your credit cards are LOST or STOLEN?

The unthinkable has happened, you have lost your wallet or your purse has been stolen. What to do? First, immediately contact all your credit card companies. Hopefully you were smart enough to have put all your cards, front and back on the copy machine, made a copy and filed it for just this problem. In case you weren’t that smart, your billing statements should have all the phone numbers.

Luckily you are protected from a thief using your card as long as you have notified the company who gave you the card that is has been lost or stolen. By law you can’t be held responsible more than $50.

When you make those calls make sure you write down the name of the person you spoke to along with the card company, the number, time and date you called, just for future reference. Your old card will be cancelled and a new one issued.

The instances of identity theft have increase sharply over the past few years; unfortunately this is a situation you must watch for carefully if you have lost your wallet, credit cards and identification. You should check your credit report every few months to make sure that no one has opened new accounts in your name. Check your driver’s license and social security account as well. Make sure if a credit card company is issuing a new card that you receive it in a timely fashion. This goes for receiving new checks as well. Remember to close your checking accounts and get new ones. Also make sure that you are receiving the bills for these cards. One thing identity thieves do is request a change of address and suddenly you are not receiving the bills, and you are still very much responsible for them.

The Federal Trade Commission also adds, "For your own protection, you should follow up your phone call with a letter to the card issuer." Include your name, account number, when your card was found missing and the date that you reported to the issuer the card was missing.