The first thing you should do is remain calm, collect your thoughts and take these six steps to protect your identity and prevent charges.
Contact Your Credit Card Company
If your credit card has been stolen, contact the credit card lender, merchant or card company that issued your card to report the theft. Be prepared to answer a few questions about the date, time and circumstances surrounding the theft. After reporting the theft, credit card companies will cancel the card and reissue a new one. You are not liable for charges on your credit card if you report the loss of the card before it is used for fraudulent charges. According to federal law, the maximum amount you may be liable for is $50. In some instances, credit card companies may wave these charges.
Alert Credit Reporting Agencies
Contact one of the main credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax or TransUnion) to have a 90-day fraud alert placed on your account. Placing a fraud alert on your account helps to prevent thieves from using your name to open a new line of credit or charging on your stolen card.
Update Associated Accounts
Make sure to check financial accounts, online shopping sites or automatic bill paying accounts that may be linked to a stolen credit card. Remove the linked card information or replace it with a new card.
Report Theft to Police
Contact your local police department to report the theft of a credit card, so there will be a record on file. If you find there are fraudulent charges on your card, you should contact the Federal Trade Commission. Using someone else’s credit card without their knowledge or authorization can result in misdemeanor or felony theft charges, according to criminal defense attorney Josh Johnson.
Review Credit Card Statement/Credit Reports
Carefully review your credit card statement to look for charges on the stolen card. It is also a good idea to request credit reports from the credit reporting agencies after requesting a fraud alert to make sure everything appears to be in order.
Consider a Credit Monitoring Service
Enrolling with a credit monitoring service may help to reduce your concerns after the theft of a card and alert you to any suspicious activity on your accounts.
Monitoring your credit report will help you to avoid ID theft. So after your read, please give the article a quick comment/share and then skip over to our check your credit report section to view and monitor your credit report.
Keeping a record of your credit card accounts is a good idea, just in case you become the victim of credit card theft. If you keep a good record and check charges on your card frequently, you can catch a stolen credit card before it becomes a major problem.
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