Losing wallets and purses is a common occurence. If they contain your credit cards, then you should take immediate action. There is no need to panic as all the major credit card companies have defined the guidelines that you should follow to protect yourself against the loss or theft.
If your credit card is stolen, immediately bring the matter to notice of the company. Most of the companies provide a toll-free number or an online service exclusively meant to deal with this issue.
The federal law states that you are responsible for only the first $50.00 of any fraudulent charges incurred on the card. But it is still essential that you report the lost or stolen card though you won’t have to face any financial loss. The other benefit of informing the company quickly before any fraudulent use is that they will waive the $50.00. But read the details on the credit card offer.
When you get the bill after the card is lost or stolen, scan every charge on the bill carefully. If something crops up that is not incurred by you, inform the company in writing immediately. Ensure the letter contains the date on which you informed the company about the misplaced card and dispatch the letter to the billing department. Send it separately from the payment as there is every chance that it will be misplaced.
Things work slightly different for the debit card. The amount of liability that you will incur depends on how soon you report it as lost or stolen. If you do it before it is used again, you do not have to bear any fraudulent charges. However a slight delay of even 2 working days means your liability may go till $500.00 of any fraudulent charges incurred on the card.
Check your bills regularly after the card is stolen. Inform your bank of any objectionable withdrawals from your account that happened at the time your card was lost or stolen. You can make a phone call, but pursuing with a certified letter that contains the day when you informed the company about your stolen or lost card. This will clear you of any liability.
Keeping track of the stolen or lost cards is an ideal method to prevent stolen or lost cards. Find out where they are located throughout and do not disclose the pin number to anyone. The pin number should be undecipherable and not something simple like the birth or anniversary date or phone number. The number should make sense only to you and not to anybody else.