	Home Prevention Tips Phishing Online Safety

ID Theft Consumer Guide

Home

Identity Theft Basics

How Identity Theft Happens

How To Prevent Identity Theft

Protecting Your Information

Phishing

Identity Theft In Information Age

When You're An ID Theft Victim

Online Safety

What to do if You Lose Your Wallet or Purse

No matter how careful you are, the day may come when you lose your wallet or purse. In point of fact, the loss of a wallet or purse can be one of the most frustrating of experiences.

If you have lost your wallet or purse, there are some steps that you need to take at once in order to protect yourself in the aftermath of the loss of your wallet or purse. This article provides you a step by step approach as to what you need to do if you have lost your wallet or purse. By taking these steps, you will be best able to protect yourself from becoming the victim of identity theft.

Contact the Police

If your wallet or purse is missing and you think that someone may have stolen it, it is important that you file a police report. Even if you really are unsure whether or not your wallet or purse actually was stolen -- if it really appears that you simply have lost your wallet or purse -- you may still want to file a police report. A police report made at the time your wallet or purse went missing may prove to be important if you have become the victim of identity theft.

Contact the Financial Institution with which Your do Business

When your wallet or purse has been stolen or has otherwise gone missing, it is important that you contact your bank and other financial institutions with which you transact business or have accounts. You will want to notify these financial institutions that your wallet or purse has gone missing -- including vital pieces of personal information that likely was contained in your wallet or purse.

To this end, you will want to contact all financial institutions with which you do business to protect yourself against identity theft. This includes those institutions which may not have been referenced in any way in the documents or items that you maintained in your wallet or purse. The reality is that someone committed to identity theft can use the materials, documents or items contained in your wallet or purse to cause damage to any financial account that you might have. In short, when it comes to protecting yourself from identity theft in the aftermath of a missing wallet or purse, you need to err on the side of caution.

Contact the Major Credit Bureaus

In the aftermath of your wallet or purse turning up missing or stolen you will also want to contact the three major credit bureaus. The credit bureaus will put an alert (a red flag, if you will) on your account. This will work to prevent a person involved in identity theft from misappropriating your own identity by using the items contained in your wallet or purse.

Cancel Your Credit Cards

Immediately -- immediately -- after your wallet or purse goes missing, contact your credit card companies and cancel the cards. This is a must.