A few weeks ago, I lost my wallet and that felt like losing my entire life! As the hustle and bustle of a new term begins, this is likely to happen more often to more people. While we all hope a kind stranger will help your wallet find its way back to you, this article covers what you should do if that doesn’t happen.
Losing your wallet can impact you both offline and online as it carries information linked to your online, financial, government/official, and even medical identities contained in bank, health, loyalty and ID cards. They carry personal data which are often key to accessing a range of services, platform and information about you. For instance, your bank card number is often your mobile or online banking username.
With all the information accessible through your wallet, you’d think it would be in a high security vault. However, we need it for everyday life so we carry it around, making it even more prone to getting lost or stolen.
This leads me to my number one tip for this post.
#1 Your physical safety is highly connected to your digital safety. To access information online, in the cloud or other virtual spaces, you often need a physical item – your devices, cards, even your fingerprint or facial features. These are all physical elements linked to the digital which makes it important to stay aware of where you and your possessions are at all times. Leaving your phone, wallet, laptop, ID card, or even a flash drive in an insecure place can become a huge digital safety issue. As more people use services such as Google Pay and Apple Wallet on their devices, losing your phone will also feel similar to losing your wallet.
So, always make a mental note of your surroundings. Know where you are. Look around you to check what you may be leaving behind or might have dropped. This was one of the few times I didn’t do that, and I regretted it for sure.
What do you do when you realize you can’t find your wallet?
#2 I did what we all do: I mentally retraced my steps, and then physically retraced them, to see if I could find it. Between getting off the bus where I needed to pull out my compass card (which means I for sure had it on the bus) and needing to pay for something when I realized my wallet was gone, I hadn’t stopped anywhere else. That was easy enough, but I didn’t find it. I even got on the bus, asked the bus driver, and looked around. Nothing.
#3 I made a list of everything in my wallet, which was fairly easy for me because I keep my wallet very organized and always know what’s in there. Make as accurate a list as possible if this is not the case.
#4 Turn your list to action items and categorize by urgency. What needs to be blocked and cancelled? What needs to be replaced? What steps do you need to take to minimize the negative impact of losing your wallet in the coming days?
#5 Start making your way through your list, calling your bank, blocking and replacing. It is also helpful to do some research on what your providers advise in those cases, you might find that different ones handle this situation differently. Some providers give you 24 to 48 hours before you become liable, and you can choose to search or wait for this period before calling if you’re not sure it’s lost. It could also be safer to do this as soon as possible and might make you feel more secure.
#6 Identify what information about you is more easily accessible to whoever finds your wallet and what that might mean for your online safety. While you should not have any of your passwords, PINs, Social Insurance Number (SIN) or similarly sensitive information in your wallet, if you do, try as much as possible to identify them.
In my case, I had my bank cards, health card, business cards, loyalty cards, student ID, driver’s license, and other ID cards – therefore, name, date of birth, address, next of kin, pictures of me, and other identifying information like height, weight, and health insurance information etc. This might be great if someone finds it and tries to reach you to get your wallet to you, but it can also go wrong when you think about what can be done with this information in the wrong hands.
Ensure your passwords are unrelated to any of this information. With my business cards in my wallet, my email address was accessible which could potentially be dangerous when matched with all this other information. Most email addresses are first name + last name anyways so you want to make sure this isn’t sufficient to get into your accounts. If it might be, be sure to change any passwords or related information.
#7 Check that you get alerts for any activity on your email, bank and other accounts. Keep a closer eye on all account activity – online, financial and otherwise. You want to closely monitor them more than usual at this time to be safe and give you the opportunity to address any issues as soon as possible.
#8 If you lose other things in this process, wipe them. Maybe you lost an entire bag which also contained your phone, laptop, journal, or tablet. In most cases, it is possible to wipe them remotely from another device or clear your browser history. This is useful if you’re worried that these are accessible and could further increase the risk.
#9 File necessary reports: Looking at tips from my bank on what to do included making a police report, reporting to the credit bureau and putting up a fraud alert. In my case, I made a Lost and Found report on TransLink. This could be applicable to any other institution or establishment you were at that could help ensure it is returned to you if found. It could be done online or by going in person.
#10 As you get your new cards back, remember to update any payments, subscriptions, or other information where necessary to minimize disruptions to the services you receive.
While you hope that your wallet is returned to you in due time, to minimize the damage, start taking these steps in the event that it isn’t.
Some people go shopping for a new wallet and start filling it up as part of the process of moving on and replacing everything. Some people give up on the idea of a wallet altogether and never again believe in having everything all in one place instead opting to only take what they need for every situation.
You might get a new wallet eventually but grow so attached to the one you just lost that you find you’re not ready for the step just yet. I was definitely leaning this way, and whichever way works for you is great.
The good news for me though is, after an excruciating wait and having already cancelled and begun the process of replacing my cards, I eventually got the call that my wallet was found and went to pick it up, which is great because I at least had my IDs back.
A number of things stood out to me during this experience:
- You can’t be sure where lost or stolen items end up. I was convinced I left it on the bus but looking back and having gotten the call to pick it up now, it was not where I expected or would have looked. Maybe it slipped and fell, but this again points to not knowing how far your information will travel. It might not end up in a safe place.
- Services like Google Pay and Apple Pay did come in handy before my cards got blocked as I was able to do other things I needed to. Yay technology!
- I was suddenly aware of how vulnerable I was and some of the bank processes were. Not having my card meant that at best, I could only verify the first and last few numbers as it will usually show up in other places like this: NNNN********NNNN. So, having to call my providers, I realized that when I stated I did not have my card, I could continue after providing my name and date of birth – information accessible through possession of my wallet. Another provider, however, made me feel more secure as it went over my last transactions, mother’s maiden name, branch location etc. While it is great to have the convenience of being able to reach my bank anywhere on the phone, it also made me think, “Couldn’t anybody including whoever had my wallet at the time do this?”
- I got the call to pick up my wallet and even that was both a mix of gladness and a feeling of insecurity as the caller, unsure who they were talking to, asked who it was and if I lost a wallet and that was it. In a different scenario where I lost my phone and wallet, that would have been an even greater security risk. I showed up to pick up my wallet, and it was just handed to me. I was thankful to have it back but hoped that at least, they had already checked what I looked like and confirmed upon seeing me.
This is a situation you’re never quite prepared for and will most likely only go reading about after it happens. Reading about it ahead might help you be better prepared for the day it comes around.
Have you ever lost a wallet? How did you navigate that experience?
Related Resources
- Stolen wallet? What to do when thieves get your cards and PIN | Global News
- 11 Steps to Take If You Lose Your Wallet | LifeLock with Norton by Symantec
- 10 Things You Should Do ASAP If Your Wallet Is Lost or Stolen | Reader’s Digest
- Here’s What to Do If You Lose Your Wallet | PopSugar
- What to Do If Your Wallet or Purse Is Lost or Stolen | Money Crashers
- Lost or Stolen Wallet? Here’s What to Do | experian
- 10 Things You Should Do Immediately After Losing Your Wallet | WiseBread
- How to Deal With Losing Your Wallet | wikiHow
Written by: Eseohe Ojo
Edited by: Samantha Summers
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