You can’t find your Visa anywhere. You were sure it was in your wallet, but it’s
not there. You check at your computer desk, in your car and even call the last
place you used it to see if you left it there. No luck — your Visa is lost. The
worst fear about a lost Visa is that someone else might find it and use it, accumulating
debt in your name. If a credit card is lost, it may have been stolen for the
purpose of unauthorized use. You might be tempted to give it some time and look
around. While backtracking your steps is a good idea, you’re going to want to
make sure someone else cannot commit fraud with your credit card. Here’s what
you should do if your Visa is lost.
Call Your Credit Card Company
To prevent any unauthorized charges on your credit card, you will want to call
your credit card issuing company. Normally you’d find
the customer service number on the back of your card, but since it’s lost,
you’ll need to get the number from an old bill or search for it online. Have
your information ready to confirm your identity. Customer service
representatives will usually use information like your name, date of birth, and
address to confirm your ID. They may ask you when you first noticed the card
lost and the last time you used it to make sure there hasn’t been any fraudulent
purchases. Then they will cancel the lost card and issue you a new one that
will arrive in the mail. Some credit card companies offer to freeze accounts,
so the card cannot be used, but it gives you some time to look for it, if you
truly believe it’s been misplaced and you just need some time to find it. Generally,
credit card companies will treat lost cards the same as stolen cards because of
the risk of it being used fraudulently.
Watch Your Bills
After you get a new card, or find your old card, and have your account unfrozen, you
will want to confirm that there have been no mysterious charges to your
account. If you happen to find some, you will want to call you credit card
issuer and initiate a case. Always prevent fraud by reporting lost or stolen
credit cards and questionable transactions.
