So you reach for your purse like you always do and notice that its missing. Your first instinct is to panic and immediately think of the worst case scenarios. By having basic knowledge of what you should do should you notice your purse is missing, you should be able to avoid complete panic. In this article, we will discuss some of the top things that you should be doing right away when you notice your purse is either lost or stolen.
- Searching
Firstly, you want to do a complete search for your purse. While you might have thought you brought it with you, there is a chance you left it in the car or even at home. You want to do a complete search for the purse in places where it could be. That way, you don’t have to complete all of the various steps below that can cause you significant hassle if your purse was simply misplaced. You should be looking at all of the places you normally leave your purse and try to retrace your steps for the day or night you notice it missing. Along with this, if your phone is in your purse, you should give it a call as a lot of people tend to leave their phones in their purse.
- Call All Of Your Banks and Issuers
Once you have established that the purse is either completely lost or stolen, it is time to set in protective measures. You want to call on everyone from your credit card issuers to your bank. That way, you can let them know that your credit cards, bank cards and social security cards are lost or stolen. They will typically freeze the card and issue you a brand new one. This does a few things for you. For one, it is going to stop unauthorized charges from coming in. Also, it is going to protect you from potential unauthorized charges that might have already been charged to your cards. Lastly, it is going to allow you to begin the process of replacing your cards. Typically, credit card companies and banks will try to get your card out with extremely fast shipping to avoid any interruption in your service. To receive a new social security card you can quickly get one online at Application Filing.com or go to your local social security office.
- Freeze Your Credit
Another important thing that you are going to want to do since you lost your personal identification is to put a complete freeze on your credit at all three agencies. Nowadays, this process is completely free. While it used to cost money to freeze your credit, you can do so now without paying anything. You will want to freeze your credit with each agency including Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. By doing this, you are going to limit the chances that someone tries to use your identity to open brand new credit accounts.
- File A Police Report And Report To The DMV or MVA
It is always wise to file a police report in the event that someone uses your driver’s license or other forms of ID. For instance, they might use your identifications during a traffic stop and it could get put into the system. By reporting your license stolen, you will be able to prove that you didn’t have your driver’s license which makes things much easier if someone were to try to use your identification. Along with this, you will want to be sure to report the missing license to your local DMV or MVA. That way, they will be able to process the application quicker and issue you a new one.
- Change Locks
A lot of people keep their home keys in their purse. If you know that your home keys were in your purse, you are going to want to completely change your locks. Unfortunately, along with the keys, you likely had your personal identification which means that whoever has your purse is going to know exactly where you live. If this information along with your key gets into the wrong hands, it could spell trouble. By changing the locks to your home, you should be able to alleviate the major concerns that you might have otherwise.
- Set Up Monitoring
One of the best things that you can do if you feel as though your purse and information along with it might be in the wrong hands would be to set up a monitoring service. Having a monitoring service working on your behalf is going to make things a lot less stressful at the end of the day. After all, you will have a system constantly looking at and monitoring activity using your social security number which can give you the peace of mind that you might need after losing your purse. Setting up this type of monitoring service is extremely affordable compared to a headache and costly efforts that would come with being a victim of identity fraud.
- Change All Of Your Auto Payments
A lot of people have auto payments setup nowadays to avoid suffering from late fees. If you are someone that does this, you are going to want to completely change all of your auto payments to the new cards that you receive. This way, you won’t be left with late fees due to your account attempting to pay with a canceled card. This is going to allow the transition to the new cards goes much smoother.
Overall, there is a lot that you are going to want to do in order to minimize the stress associated with losing or having your purse stolen. By following many of the tips above, you should be able to reduce the chances that you end up losing out financially from losing your purse other than the money that was in it. Keeping your credit and identity secure is more important than anything. By taking the preventative measures of freezing your credit, reporting to your credit card company, and signing up for a credit monitoring service, you should be able to minimize the chances of becoming a victim.
