Stolen Credit Card? Take These 5 Steps

Do you know what steps to take when your credit card is stolen?

No one likes finding out their credit card was stolen, but it can and does happen. If this happens, you should take the right actions to protect yourself and your money. Keep reading to discover the five steps you should take if your credit card is lost or stolen.

1. Contact your credit card issuer right away

The first step you'll want to take is to contact your credit card issuer as soon as possible to inform it that your card has been lost or stolen. By doing this, you're making your card issuer aware that you don't possess the card and that there's a potential for fraud.

If you know that fraudulent charges have already occurred, be sure to report all of them. Your card issuer will cancel your current credit card so no further unauthorized charges can occur, and it will mail you a new credit card. Your credit card issuer will also thoroughly investigate the transactions to confirm that fraud has occurred.

Are you worried about your financial responsibility for unauthorized charges? The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) gives consumers the right to dispute unauthorized credit card charges and states that consumers have a maximum liability of $50 for such charges.

However, many of the best credit cards offer $0 fraud liability, so if your card offers this, you won't be liable for unauthorized charges, which is good news for your wallet. After you make a report, your card issuer will investigate the transactions to confirm they were unauthorized.

2. Change your login details

It's not a bad idea to change your credit card login details, and the login details for any accounts used to make purchases with your card. Sometimes online shopping websites are hacked, and customer account information is stolen, including credit card payment details, which results in fraudulent purchases. Updating your login details can be an excellent way to protect yourself from further incidents like this.

3. Review your credit card statements

It's good practice to review your account transactions over the coming weeks to ensure no additional fraudulent charges occur. Check current and upcoming credit card statements to spot any transactions you didn't make and promptly report them to your card issuer.

4. Monitor your credit report

You should also monitor your credit report for some time after losing a card or having a card stolen. If your personal information was compromised, you could become the victim of identity theft. Regularly review your credit report to ensure there are no signs of fraud. Through the end of 2023, you can get a weekly free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus.

5. Review your automatic payments

If you have automatic payments set up for your bills using your previous card, you'll want to review them and update the payment details once your new credit card arrives. Doing this can ensure your future bill payments go through successfully without delays or errors. Missed payments can negatively impact your credit score and cause you added stress.

Whether your credit card was stolen, you lost it, or your card information was compromised, it's necessary to take the proper steps as quickly as possible to ensure any damage done is limited and your account issues are resolved right away.