What to do when you lose your wallet: 10 steps to take

It’s understandable that losing a wallet can be alarming. But don’t panic—there are steps you can take to help keep your money and information safe. 

Below are 10 steps you can take if you lose your wallet. Plus, continue reading for additional tips on how to manage payments without your cards and ways to make things easier in the future.

What you’ll learn:

• If you lose your wallet, lock your credit and debit cards immediately through your bank’s website or app to prevent unauthorized use.

• Contact your bank and credit card issuers to report your missing cards and order replacements.

• To help protect yourself from identity theft, you can take steps like filing a police report, changing your passwords, setting up a fraud alert and monitoring your accounts and credit reports.

• Digital tools such as your bank’s mobile app, virtual cards and mobile wallets may help reduce hassles in the future and allow you to make purchases while you wait for your new cards to arrive.

Locking your credit and debit cards is a quick first step you can take while you’re searching for your lost wallet. This prevents anyone who finds your cards from making unauthorized purchases while you continue your search.

Oftentimes, you can lock or unlock your cards freely at any time using mobile banking. So if you do track down your wallet, you can simply unlock your cards to use them right away—something you won’t be able to do if you immediately cancel them instead.

If you’re a Capital One cardholder, you can lock or unlock your cards by signing in to your account on the Capital One Mobile app or website. For each card, select it and then go to the Protect and Replace Your Card section. 

If you’ve searched and have concluded that your wallet is definitely lost, the next step is to contact your credit card issuers. 

If you report your cards as missing before someone uses them, you won’t be responsible for covering fraudulent purchases. If someone does use your credit cards before you report them lost or stolen, the most you’ll be responsible for is $50—though many credit card issuers may not hold you accountable.

Once you’ve reported the missing cards, your credit card issuers will cancel the cards and send replacements. You should be able to contact your credit card issuers on the phone, or you may be able to cancel your cards using your financial institution’s mobile app or website. 

If your lost wallet contains a debit card from a financial institution other than your credit card issuers, you’ll need to contact them too.

Capital One offers $0 liability for unauthorized charges, but some financial institutions may have more-limited liability, depending on when you report your card missing.

As with credit cards, you can report your missing debit card and request a replacement by phone, in person or through your bank’s website or mobile app. 

Filing a police report ensures there’s a record in case you become a victim of identity theft or fraud. Plus, if someone turns in your lost wallet, the police will already have your information on hand.

It may be helpful to give the police any relevant information, such as when and where you think you lost it, the wallet’s appearance and what was in it.

Taking steps to protect your accounts’ security may be a good idea—just in case your lost wallet falls into the wrong hands. If someone has your wallet, they might have access to your name, address and card numbers. Changing the passwords for any online accounts connected to your cards may be a smart next step. 

If you aren’t already using two-factor authentication (2FA), setting it up can create another safeguard between the fraudster and your accounts. 

Setting up a credit fraud alert is another step you can take if you’re worried about identity theft. You can set this up by contacting one of the three major credit bureaus (it will update the other two bureaus for you). Then, if someone fraudulently tries to open an account in your name, you’ll be notified.

Another option is to freeze your credit with each credit bureau, which would prevent lenders from accessing your credit reports entirely. Both fraud alerts and credit freezes are free of charge.

Even after taking the steps mentioned above, it’s still important to keep an eye on your account activity and credit reports. This will help you spot any unauthorized transactions or credit activity.

Capital One customers can easily track their account activity by signing in to their account on the Capital One Mobile app or website. And when it comes to monitoring your credit score, you can use a tool like CreditWise by Capital One—whether you’re a Capital One customer or not. You can also visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get free copies of your credit reports. 

To replace a lost driver’s license or state ID card, you can contact your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You can visit your local DMV office in person to start the process of getting a new license or ID. Or you can check their website to see whether it’s possible to order a replacement online. 

Think about any other important cards or items that were in your wallet that you may need to replace or report missing. This might include insurance cards, membership cards or gift cards.

Hopefully, your Social Security card wasn’t in your wallet, but if it was, you’ll need to replace it through the Social Security Administration (SSA). If you think you’re a victim of identity theft because someone obtained your card and Social Security number (SSN), you may need to report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

One thing that might be easily forgotten is updating any accounts that have recurring charges linked to your credit cards. Once you receive your replacement cards, you’ll need to update your payment information.

Here are a few more things to consider if you’ve lost your wallet.

If you’ve already reported your missing credit and debit cards and are expecting replacements to come in the mail, you might be concerned about how to pay for things in the meantime. Here are a few possible solutions:

• Virtual card: Depending on your card issuers and where you bank, one option may be a virtual card. If you’re a Capital One cardholder, you may be able to access your virtual card number through the Capital One Mobile app before your physical card arrives. And any previously established virtual card numbers will continue to work even if your physical card is being replaced.

• Digital wallet: You may be able to add your card to a digital wallet through your financial institution’s website or app before receiving the physical card in the mail. Having your card information stored in a digital wallet would allow you to make payments online and tap with your phone to pay in stores.

• Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment: If you’re paying someone you know, you could send a P2P payment by linking to your bank account. Some retailers may accept P2P payments too.

• Cash: Paying for things in store can, of course, be done with cash. Even if you’re unable to access an ATM due to not having your debit card, you can visit a local branch of your bank or credit union to withdraw cash from a teller. 

If losing your wallet has been a headache, there are some steps you can take to reduce the hassle if there is a next time. Here are a few tips to consider:

• Keep less in your physical wallet. Think about which items aren’t necessary to keep in your wallet. Especially consider leaving out sensitive documents like your Social Security card and birth certificate—these items can be stored safely at home.

• Set up a mobile wallet. Even if you still want to carry your physical wallet, having a digital wallet on a mobile device may help you reduce the number of cards you carry. Most digital wallets can be used for more than just storing credit cards—you may be able to store your driver’s license, membership cards, transit cards and more. And if you’re primarily using your digital wallet for purchases, you won’t even need to take out your physical wallet.

• Keep contact information in your physical wallet. If your lost wallet ends up in the right hands, the person who finds it will know how to reach you.

• Keep copies of cards and IDs. One option may be to scan or take pictures of cards and IDs and store them in a safe place at home. This might help if you ever need to replace them in the future. 

• Use a wallet tracker. There are some products on the market that can allow you to track the location of your physical wallet. For instance, there are cards that fit into a wallet and have tracking capabilities using Bluetooth.

Losing a wallet can be a hassle to deal with, but it’s important to take quick action to protect your accounts and your identity. 

Fortunately, you can access many helpful digital tools through the Capital One Mobile app. From the app, you can easily lock and unlock your cards, add cards to a digital wallet, access your virtual card numbers and much more.