What to Do If You Lose Your Wallet

Losing your wallet on a trip is a worst-case scenario, but if it does happen to you, don’t forget that your life will go on. And just as importantly, there are steps that you should take immediately after losing a wallet to ensure that you limit your exposure/risk.

In a helpful post on the subject, LifeLock (which works to prevent identity theft) put together a list of 11 steps to take if you lose your wallet. It runs from “Call the issuer of your debit card” (step 1) to “Set up fraud alerts with the national credit bureaus” (step 4) to “File a police report” (step 6) to “Make a list of what else was in your wallet” (step 11). It also includes phone numbers for many major banks, numbers for the three major credit bureaus, estimated fees, and more. It’s a good read. Hopefully you’ll never need it!

And a good tip within a tip, from step 7: “Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Thieves love this card because they love having your Social Security number. They’ll have a far easier time applying for loans or lines of credit in your name with this information…In most cases, the Social Security Administration will not give you a new Social Security number.”

Related: 

• The New Way to Prevent Items in Your Car From Getting Stolen
• The Trackable Wallet That’s Difficult to Lose

____________________________________________________________

Have your own tip? Email it to whitney@johnnyjet.com!
Want to see more tips? Click here for all 1,439!

Want even more travel tips? Sign up here for the Daily Travel Tip newsletter! Just fill in your email address and check the Daily Travel Tip box—and you’ll have Johnny’s best tips, straight to your inbox each day!

If you already subscribe to our weekly newsletter, you can sign up on the same page. Just fill in your email and check the Daily Travel Tip box on the same page and you’ll receive an email with a link to update your JohnnyJet.com preferences. On that page, just click the Daily Travel Tip box and Update Profile.