Many of you might be familiar with that catch phrase for the Capital One credit card, but I am seriously asking. Do you actually know what exactly is in yours?
The other day a friend of mine called me in a bit of a tizzy. She came home from a morning of errands and realized that her wallet was no longer in her purse. She called me because at times I have a spooky ability to find lost things.
We checked the nooks and crannies of her car, all of the grocery bags and all the side pockets of her purse with no success.
The next step was to move into problem solving mode.
The first thing she did was to call the store where she last remembered using the wallet, to see if anyone had found it.
No one had turned it in. We had to assume it was gone. It was time for damage control.
The priority now was to put a hold on the credit cards in case the wallet had been stolen.
Calling the credit cards to cancel them is more of a challenge when you don’t actually have the card in front of you.
My friend had a recent bill and that gave her just enough information to get that taken care of (after ten minutes of shouting “AGENT”)
Some companies will do a temporary hold. That wasn’t the case with hers, so she had to cancel and have them send new ones.
She also reported the loss to the police. This can be done online. Doing this made a lot of sense to protect from potential fraud.
For the drivers license she had to deal with the DMV. No kidding around, losing a wallet is a giant pain in the butt.
But, when sucky things happen, there is usually a lesson!! This situation provided several.
Pay attention and don’t just read this. Be proactive.
Learnings.
Consider having an airtag or tracking device on keys and wallet. There are trackers that look like credit cards that slip right in. I have one of the basic airtags in mine, and my wallet makes a funny little jingle whenever I move it. I don’t actually have an iphone but my kids do, it is linked to my daughter Alana’s account. If I lose it, she will be able to track it.
Take a photo of your important cards, front and back.
Print and place in a secure file. This way you have the account numbers handy and won’t have to search for the correct number to call.
If you store that in the cloud, make sure it is in a separate password protected file.
For driver licenses create a DMV account, That will make it easier to replace a lost card. If you have your login info and drivers license number, you can print out a temporary card and won’t necessarily need to go in.
We didn’t think about it at the time, but it would have been an extra level of security to put a fraud alert on the 3 credit bureaus so that a warning pops up if someone tries to open a new credit card in your name. For an extra level of security, put freezes on your credit files at the 3 main credit bureaus - TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Without releasing the freeze, not even you can open new lines of credit!
Don’t Carry:
Anything that you don’t really need with you. You don’t need every credit card you own for a trip to the grocery story.
Something like your global entry card can be carried when you are doing international travel, but doesn’t need to live in your wallet
Do Carry:
Insurance cards
AAA or roadside assist cards or info
Something you need for a planned outing, such as your zoo membership card (although many are on your phone these days)
Our story had a happy ending. Three days after it was lost, she got a call from the local police station letting her know that someone had turned it in, completely intact. It is so nice to know that there are honest people out there!
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