Turn in a Lost Credit Card
You look down on the ground and find a credit card. What do you do? Although your first instinct might be to call the police or search for the owner, you should instead call the number on the back of the card. Report the card missing and then destroy it. The owner can easily request a new card. However, if you find the credit card inside a wallet, then you should give the wallet to the police.
Contents
Steps
Reporting a Credit Card as Missing
- Hold onto the credit card. If you find the card outside, wipe off any debris so that you can read the card clearly. Pull out your cell phone or walk to the nearest phone. Don’t give the card to someone else.
- You shouldn’t give the card to a cashier if you find it in the store. You don’t know if they are trustworthy simply because they work at a business.
- Don’t call the police, either. They are typically too busy to deal with lost credit cards.
- Also don’t try to track down the owner. It’s very easy for an owner to request a new credit card, so you don’t need to waste your time hunting them down.
- Call the number on the back. There should be a toll-free number printed on the back of the credit card, which you should call. If the card has become worn or the number is obscured, then go online and find the general number for the credit card issuer.
- Avoid delay. Someone else might have found the card before you and written down the number. They could be racking up charges. The sooner you report the card as lost, the sooner the credit card company can freeze the account.
- Report the card as lost. Tell the customer service representative the card number and the cardmember’s name. Also explain where you found the card and when.
- Remember to take notes of your conversation. Write down the date and time you called and who you spoke to.
- Dispose of the card as prompted. The credit card issuer should tell you what to do with the card. Typically, they will tell you to cut up the card and throw it away.
Turning in a Missing Wallet
- Create an inventory of the wallet’s contents. If you find an empty wallet, the owner can always claim there was money inside it. Although you can’t completely protect yourself from that accusation, you’ll help yourself if you write down everything that is in the wallet. Type up a list in your smart phone. This will show you were careful about what you found.
- Write down the amount of cash in the card and the denomination of the bills. For example, “$46. Two twenties, one five, one one.”
- Write down the credit cards.
- Note other contents such as the driver’s license, insurance card, etc.
- Avoid turning in the wallet to a business. All you’re doing is turning the wallet over to a different stranger. There’s no reason to think that a store employee won’t steal from someone, so hold onto the wallet yourself.
- It’s perfectly understandable that you don’t want the wallet in your possession for too long. In that situation, you can ask a store manager if you can use the phone to call the police.
- Don’t go searching for the owner. If you see a wallet drop out of someone’s jacket or pocket, you can pick it up and give it to them. However, if you don’t know who dropped it, you shouldn’t spend time searching for the owner, even if the wallet has a driver’s license in it.
- You also shouldn’t mail the wallet back to them. You have no idea if the wallet will even reach the true owner.
- Trying to find the owner yourself could also get you in legal trouble. A woman in Wyoming was arrested for not turning the wallet over to the police but instead searching for the owner herself.
- Turn over the wallet to the police. Your best bet is to hand over the wallet to the police, where it will be kept safely. Also, if there’s no identifying information in the wallet, the police are better equipped to find the owner. Drive to the police station and report that you found a missing wallet.
- You might have to fill out some paperwork. At a minimum, you’ll have to give the police your name and address.
