What to do if you lose your wallet

Who to contact about what was in your wallet

Swipe sideways to see the full contact table.

Check the last places you had it

Before you start calling banks, give it one quick look. Pockets and bag first, then the car. After that, think back to the last place you paid and call them.

Ask if anyone's handed in a wallet, and leave your name and number in case it turns up later.

If there's a tracker in the wallet paired to your iPhone, open Find My and check it now.

Don't let this step drag on. A card you report late can cost you money, and the next step shows how much.

We'll follow one hypothetical example through the rest of this guide. Sam reaches for their wallet at a grocery checkout, and it isn't there. It had Sam's debit and credit cards in it, plus a driver's license.

Sam's Social Security card was at home, following the SSA's advice. Sam checks the car and calls the store, then moves on to the cards.

Call your bank and card issuers

If the quick search turns up nothing, report every payment card that was in the wallet. Start with the debit card.

Call the bank or credit union that issued it, or report it lost in their mobile app. The FTC says to report the loss "as soon as possible," then "follow up immediately in writing."²

Why does the debit card go first? Federal law ties how much you could lose to how quickly you report it. The FTC's consumer guide lists the maximum amounts below. These are limits, not automatic charges.

The sooner you call, the less you're on the hook for.

Next, call about your credit cards. Card networks (the Visa or Mastercard name on the card, for example) have their own protections, and those work differently.

Visa's Zero Liability Policy says you "won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your account or account information." There's a catch. Visa expects you to protect the card and tell your issuer right away about any charges you didn't make, and some commercial and anonymous prepaid card transactions aren't covered.³

Mastercard has a similar protection, and it also depends on you reporting the loss promptly.⁴

The FTC figures above are the federal limits for debit and ATM cards. Zero liability is a card network's own policy, with its own conditions and exclusions. Your issuer can tell you whether it covers your card and how.

Sam calls the bank about the debit card first, reports it lost and sends the written follow-up. Then Sam calls the credit card's issuer.

Replace your driver's license and other ID

If there was a driver's license or other government ID in your wallet, you'll need to replace it. For a license or state ID, contact your state motor vehicle agency and ask for a replacement.

That's the route USAGov, the US government's official information website, gives. It also warns that the rules vary, and that many require an official document, like your birth certificate, to prove who you are. Check your state agency's page for what to bring.⁵

If your Social Security card was in there, the SSA says "You can request a free replacement card," and that the fastest way to get one "is to start your application online."⁶

Medicare, the federal health insurance program, handles its own cards. USAGov says to log in to your Medicare account online, or create one, then print a copy or request a replacement by mail. You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).⁵

Sam contacts the state motor vehicle agency about a replacement license. The Social Security card was at home, so that's it for this step.

Place a free fraud alert with one credit bureau

Once your cards are reported and you've asked for a new ID, protect your credit file. Do it even if nothing looks wrong yet.

Contact one of the three credit bureaus and ask for an initial fraud alert. The bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the companies that keep Americans' credit reports.

A fraud alert is a note on your credit report that tells lenders to take extra steps to confirm it's you before they give credit in your name. It's free. In the FTC's words, it "will make it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name."

You only need to contact one bureau. The FTC says the one you contact "must tell the other two," and all three bureaus say the same on their own sites. Each one then sends you a letter confirming the alert.⁷

An initial alert lasts a year. Equifax says you can remove it sooner or renew it a year at a time.⁸

A credit freeze is a separate option, and all three bureaus say it's free to place and lift one. Which you go with, if either, is your call.¹¹

The FTC also suggests pulling your free credit report right away, at AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.

Sam places a fraud alert with one bureau and requests a free credit report.

Report it to the FTC if someone uses your information

Skip this step unless something looks off, like a charge you didn't make or a bill for an account that isn't yours.

If you do spot something, the FTC's guide says to start by calling the fraud department at each company involved. Ask them to close or freeze those accounts, and change your login details and PINs.

Then report the identity theft to the FTC. You won't be the only one. Its IdentityTheft.gov site received more than 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, according to an FTC press release from 2025.¹²

Report the identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov, or call 1-877-438-4338. The site creates an FTC Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan from the details you provide.

If you create an account, you can return to update your plan and track your progress. If you do not create an account, print or save your report and recovery plan before leaving the site.

You may also file a report with your local police department. The FTC says a police report is especially useful if you know who stole your identity, someone used your name in an encounter with police, or a business requires one.⁷

If you file a police report, bring:

• A copy of your FTC Identity Theft Report
• A government-issued photo ID
• Proof of your address
• Any other proof of the theft

Nothing strange has shown up on Sam's accounts or credit report, so Sam skips this step.

Keep a record while replacements arrive

Whatever steps you ended up taking, keep everything in one place from the first call until the last replacement card shows up. A notes app works. So does a sheet of paper.

Write a line for each call with the date and the name of the person you spoke to. Add what they told you underneath.

Keep copies of your written follow-ups in the same place, along with the bureaus' confirmation letters. If you filed an FTC Identity Theft Report or a police report, those go there too.

When each new debit card statement comes in, read it line by line. It's tedious, but the FTC's 60-day limit counts from when the statement is sent, so report any charge you don't recognize as soon as you spot it.

Do the same with your credit card statements.

By now, Sam's record has five lines:

• Car checked and the grocery store called
• Debit card reported to the bank, with a written follow-up sent
• Credit card reported to its issuer
• Replacement license requested from the state motor vehicle agency
• Fraud alert placed with one bureau and free credit report requested, letters to come

From here, Sam's job is to check each new statement against that record, starting with the debit card's.

Make your next wallet findable before you need it

When you put your next wallet together, leave the Social Security card out. In a 2026 post on its blog, the SSA says to keep the card in a safe place and "Only bring it with you when absolutely necessary."¹³

Then decide whether you'd like the wallet to show up in Find My, the app Apple devices use to locate belongings.

Our Tracking Card is 1.8 mm thick, so it fits a card slot beside your other cards. Once it's paired, Find My can show the wallet's reported location on a map and play a sound when you're nearby.¹⁴

Find My's separation alerts can also let you know when you've left the wallet behind. The card works through Find My with no separate Spotminders app or subscription.¹⁴

It won't stop a wallet from going missing, and it does nothing to protect the cards inside. It gives you somewhere to look during that first quick search. Every call after that stays the same.

What can you set up now so a lost wallet is easier to deal with?

If your wallet went missing today, focus on the calls above. A tracker you buy now can't show you where the old one went. Everything else here is for the next wallet you carry.

Save your bank's and card issuers' phone numbers somewhere other than your wallet today. Your phone's contacts are fine. If it ever happens again, you'll get through the first calls faster.