Frustrated- Lost My Wallet! :(

[Huntn]

Very strange things this morning. Facing a deluge of rain, I ventured out this morning used my debit card to get some cash at an ATM, went to McDonald's to get a coffee, and started to reach for my wallet, but then decided to use Apple Pay there, then stopped at the gas station to fill up and... no wallet. All these things happened quickly. I have some very specific habit patterns such as if I give my credit card to someone I don't put my wallet away until I get the card back and I don't set my wallet down. The only thing I can think is that somehow, at the ATM at a Walgreens, or maybe even at McDonald's (if I reached for it), I did not get the wallet all the way into my pants pocket and it ended up either in my car, or on the ground somewhere between these locations and my vehicle. I've not found it in the car.

Immediately retraced my steps, asked if had been turned in, but no wallet. So I went home and started calling credit card companies. That's a slight inconvenience, as I carry 3 cards, all quickly cancelled. I can kiss the $40 in my wallet goodbye, but I can overcome that. My Texas drivers license is a bit of a worry, but it is hard to counterfeit. I went to this site and found

9 Urgent Must-Dos If You Lose Your Driver’s License

General and Texas clarifications bolded:

1) Act Fast

2) Assess What’s Missing- I knew mostly what was in my wallet, but now I vow to keep a printed list of the contents of my wallet including cc numbers, phone numbers, and such.

3) Know What’s at Risk

4) Report the Loss to the Police- Except in Texas it's on you. With all the emphasis on IDENTITY, Texas does not care about lost cards, until your Driver's License is used fraudulently. If stolen as part of a robbery, it can be reported. There is none of this pesky proactive stuff for lost cards. And even if it's stolen, I have no idea if the number is flagged in any way. I asked about having my diver's license number changed, and although there is an audit number that identifies what version of a driver's license in your possession, the DL number remains the same. The representative, politely told me that with all the people who lose their licenses, they could not possible change their Driver License numbers. When I told her it was a common practice with credit cards, she said those were the rules they operated under. One of the benefits of running a super tight budget. Just getting on the phone with a live person, took 30 minutes.

5) Report the Loss to Your ID Theft Protection Service- Anyone recommend subscribing to?

6) Notify the State DMV- The Texas State DMV only cares that you carry a Driver License on you when driving. When lost, you can go through some un-intuitive steps to get a new one, which thankfully can be accomplished online if you have your Driver License Audit number (20 digits, identified with a DD) and know where to go www.dps.texas.gov> driver license> change address. Go through the steps, fill in the same address as you all ready have, and the State will send you a new one for about $20. If you live in Texas or really no matter where, it's a good idea to make a copy of your driver license and your passports. Having the audit number, saved me a dreaded trip to the DMV, other wise I would not have known it.

7) Replace Your Lost Driver’s License- Done.
8) Drive Nowhere without Your Driver’s License

9) Watch for the Signs of Identity Theft- Sounds like a pain. Is there an easy way to do this?

Uh, huh.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Very strange things this morning. Facing a deluge of rain, I ventured out this morning used my debit card to get some cash at an ATM, went to McDonald's to get a coffee, and started to reach for my wallet, but then decided to use Apple Pay there, then stopped at the gas station to fill up and... no wallet. All these things happened quickly. I have some very specific habit patterns such as if I give my credit card to someone I don't put my wallet away until I get the card back and I don't set my wallet down. The only thing I can think is that somehow, at the ATM at a Walgreens, or maybe even at McDonald's (if I reached for it), I did not get the wallet all the way into my pants pocket and it ended up either in my car, or on the ground somewhere between these locations and my vehicle. I've not found it in the car.

Immediately retraced my steps, asked if had been turned in, but no wallet. So I went home and started calling credit card companies. That's a slight inconvenience, as I carry 3 cards, all quickly cancelled. I can kiss the $40 in my wallet goodbye, but I can overcome that. My Texas drivers license is a bit of a worry, but it is hard to counterfeit. I went to this site and found

9 Urgent Must-Dos If You Lose Your Driver’s License

General and Texas clarifications bolded:

1) Act Fast

2) Assess What’s Missing- I knew mostly what was in my wallet, but now I vow to keep a printed list of the contents of my wallet including cc numbers, phone numbers, and such.

3) Know What’s at Risk

4) Report the Loss to the Police- Except in Texas it's on you. With all the emphasis on IDENTITY, Texas does not care about lost cards, until your Driver's License is used fraudulently. If stolen as part of a robbery, it can be reported. There is none of this pesky proactive stuff for lost cards. And even if it's stolen, I have no idea if the number is flagged in any way. I asked about having my diver's license number changed, and although there is an audit number that identifies what version of a driver's license in your possession, the DL number remains the same. The representative, politely told me that with all the people who lose their licenses, they could not possible change their Driver License numbers. When I told her it was a common practice with credit cards, she said those were the rules they operated under. One of the benefits of running a super tight budget. Just getting on the phone with a live person, took 30 minutes.

5) Report the Loss to Your ID Theft Protection Service- Anyone recommend subscribing to?

6) Notify the State DMV- The Texas State DMV only cares that you carry a Driver License on you when driving. When lost, you can go through some un-intuitive steps to get a new one, which thankfully can be accomplished online if you have your Driver License Audit number (20 digits, identified with a DD) and know where to go www.dps.texas.gov> driver license> change address. Go through the steps, fill in the same address as you all ready have, and the State will send you a new one for about $20. If you live in Texas or really no matter where, it's a good idea to make a copy of your driver license and your passports. Having the audit number, saved me a dreaded trip to the DMV, other wise I would not have known it.

7) Replace Your Lost Driver’s License- Done.
8) Drive Nowhere without Your Driver’s License

9) Watch for the Signs of Identity Theft- Sounds like a pain. Is there an easy way to do this?

Uh, huh.

I've never lost a wallet, but yes I'd be more concerned about the identity theft aspect than my debit cards.
Just hope nobody starts signing you up for store cards and the like. Just keep an eye on things and report anything strange immediately.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Back in 2002, my wallet was robbed the day before I was due to fly out for a few months research in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I suspect that I know where it happened, hands full (with presents and last minute shopping) boarding a suburban train to take me to where I was staying or the night.

Anyway, I shrugged off the loss of the £80 that I had for taxis, and airport expenses the following day.

However, it was a considerable - but not impossible - inconvenience.

I had to reschedule my flight (I put it back a fortnight), and cancel my cards. My bank cards were swiftly replaced, (and the accounts were fine), but it took me over two years before the health authorities would replace my blood group card, which I had requested prior to my first deployment to Bosnia in 1997.

 

[Huntn]

I've never lost a wallet, but yes I'd be more concerned about the identity theft aspect than my debit cards.
Just hope nobody starts signing you up for store cards and the like. Just keep an eye on things and report anything strange immediately.

The Texas drive license has lines all over the picture to inhibit forgery. For large stuff the address would have to be altered, plus hopefully they don't know my social Security Number (our defacto national ID number). Will that be enough? Don't know.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Texas drive license has lines all over the picture to inhibit forgery. For large stuff the address would have to be altered, plus hopefully they don't know my social Security Number (our defacto national ID number). Will that be enough? Don't know.

Have you notified every card issuing authority that these cards have been stolen, and may need replacing?

I'm not familiar with how such things work in the US, but usually, in my experience, once you have taken rapid steps to notify the relevant authorities that these documents are not in your hands, (and why) the documents are flagged and replacements are issued.

 

[Huntn]

Back in 2002, my wallet was robbed the day before I was due to fly out for a few months research in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I suspect that I know where it happened, hands full (with presents and last minute shopping) boarding a suburban train to take me to where I was staying or the night.

Anyway, I shrugged off the loss of the £80 that I had for taxis, and airport expenses the following day.

However, it was a considerable - but not impossible - inconvenience.

I had to reschedule my flight (I put it back a fortnight), and cancel my cards. My bank cards were swiftly replaced, (and the accounts were fine), but it took me over two years before the health authorities would replace my blood group card, which I had requested prior to my first deployment to Bosnia in 1997.

That sounds inconvienent but survivable. Right now, I'm hoping I'm in the same situation.

My impression is the big fear is Identiy Theft.
Before this I have been harassed for years by debt collectors looking for the wrong person with the same first and last name but the wrong middle name, and living in another State. I'm convinced that these companies pull up a Nationsl list of names that are close, and work down the list, advising people they need to settle their debt, before they have verified they have the right person. The other chink in their method, is basically if you tell them they have the wrong person, they say "ok" and move on. But, still I was getting several calls a month. Waiting with baited breath. :-/

 

[Huntn]

Have you notified every card issuing authority that these cards have been stolen, and may need replacing?

I'm not familiar with how such things work in the US, but usually, in my experience, once you have taken rapid steps to notify the relevant authorities that these documents are not in your hands, (and why) the documents are flagged and replacements are issued.

Yes, the cards in my wallet have been stopped. My concern is what if anything could be done with my driver license.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes, the cards in my wallet have been stopped. My concern is what if anything could be done with my driver license.

Well, I'm not familiar with the driving licence system in the US, and how it is registered and what body is in charge of issuing it.

Is it not possible to have it stopped, and a new one issued, possibly with a new ID or serial number and the old one registered as having been stolen?

 

[kazmac]

I didn't lose my wallet, but I was hit with Identity theft 13 years ago and took all the steps, including calling the FTC and going to the police station (that was not fun.)

Huntn, in your case I'd contact Experian, Trans Union etc. and tell them you lost your Driver's license and cards and have closed these credit card accounts. Ask them and your credit card issuers if there's any identity theft protection they offer. Perhaps your bank does too.

I don't use these online identity theft protection plans (Life Lock got hacked a few years ago); I have second debit card I use for all online purchases that is separate from my primary checking and savings accounts.

BTW, I am getting those harassing calls from spammers and scammers about being someone close to my name owing money. I've been out of debt since the identity theft incident described above and I am constantly blocking calls I don't know on my iPhone (my favorite protection feature.)

 

[snorkelman]

Commiserations, I've lost (and recovered) mine twice

Once in passenger-side door pocket of a friends vehicle, that I only found the next time they gave me a lift a fortnight later,

Second time in a ceiling space of a building we were running CAT5 cable in.

I had pretty good idea where it was that time, but stuck till the following Monday when the building reopened before I could confirm and recover it (so had to assume the worse and cancel all the cards again, just in case I'd guessed wrong)

Biggest lesson from all of the hassles stemming from those two momentary lapses of concentration? Not to carry all my bank and credit cards with me all the time, as I had the really bad habit of doing. One card safely kept at home would have saved me a whole load of inconvenience while waiting for new cards to be issued

Fingers crossed you find it

 

[Huntn]

Well, I'm not familiar with the driving licence system in the US, and how it is registered and what body is in charge of issuing it.

Is it not possible to have it stopped, and a new one issued, possibly with a new ID or serial number and the old one registered as having been stolen?

There is a the Driver License number assigned to the individual, and then an audit number that shows what version of the driver's license. As described to me, its something the police use to determine if this is the latest version of the license. Now does that come into play when walking into a store and applying for credit, possibly just based on a driver license? It would require either a doctored driver's license, or someone who looks similar enough to pass for the legitimate owner of the license. Most likely it could only be able to be used a couple of times, because once bills start arriving in the true owner's mailbox, the jig would be up. But Texas has made it clear, they don't give a hoot until my license has been used fraudulently and I report it after the damage has been done. And they don't have the resources (tight budget assumed) to be changing driver license numbers when a license is lost, just issue a duplicate license.

Which is mind boggling, as I said in my original post, about the emphasis put on identity in the age of terrorism. Now would I be held responsible for a store loan in my name? That is undetermined. Many factors involved such as was it used locally to where I live, or was it used in a different State. Honestly I'm not an expert on the possibilities.

I didn't lose my wallet, but I was hit with Identity theft 13 years ago and took all the steps, including calling the FTC and going to the police station (that was not fun.)

Huntn, in your case I'd contact Experian, Trans Union etc. and tell them you lost your Driver's license and cards and have closed these credit card accounts. Ask them and your credit card issuers if there's any identity theft protection they offer. Perhaps your bank does too.

I don't use these online identity theft protection plans (Life Lock got hacked a few years ago); I have second debit card I use for all online purchases that is separate from my primary checking and savings accounts.

BTW, I am getting those harassing calls from spammers and scammers about being someone close to my name owing money. I've been out of debt since the identity theft incident described above and I am constantly blocking calls I don't know on my iPhone (my favorite protection feature.)

Thanks, excellent idea. I'll check this out.

 

[JackieInCo]

I lost mine last week. I got my license and debit and credit cards all replaced and they arrived in the mail today. I was never so glad to see a huge stack of mail with cards and pin numbers as I was today. Nice thing is, all my cards got replaced with chip cards. I had just renewed my license two weeks ago because of my birthday and I already lost it. I went online and went through the renewal process again and got the license today. The state had completely redesigned the license so last month I got sent the old style and this month, got the new style.

I had already signed up for credit monitoring after the T-Mobile credit hack several months ago and I have no alerts so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So far other then the inconvenience of not having my cards to use and the loss of $130 cash, I am happy I got the newly designed license and all the chip cards.

 

[Huntn]

A Ray of Sunshine-
This morning a good Samaritan appeared on my doorstep with my wallet, found in the McDonald's parking lot!! Apparently it did not find its way completely into my pocket. He even tried to call the emergency number I had put on the back of my DL, but it was an old number. Yet, still, I'm happy and rewarded him. I will now have a complete record of what I keep in my wallet, along with contact phone numbers, and maybe go shopping for one of those chains people use to connect their wallets to their belts.

The ultimate in swank and sophisticated


What's in your wallet?
5 CC/Debit Cards
1 Health Insurance Card
4 Membership Cards
1 Driver License
(less the $20 reward)​

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Jolly good news, and lovely to learn that proverbial Good Samaritans actually do really exist and can turn up at your doorstep in person to return something such as this.

 

[Apple fanboy]

A Ray of Sunshine-
This morning a good Samaritan appeared on my doorstep with my wallet, found in the McDonald's parking lot!! Apparently it did not find its way completely into my pocket. He even tried to call the emergency number I had put on the back of my DL, but it was an old number. Yet, still, I'm happy and rewarded him. I will now have a complete record of what I keep in my wallet, along with contact phone numbers, and maybe go shopping for one of those chains people use to connect their wallets to their belts.

The ultimate in swank and sophisticated

View attachment 627559
What's in your wallet?
5 CC/Debit Card
1 Health Insurance Card
4 Membership Cards
1 Driver's License
(less the $20 reward)​

What a great result. Glad to hear there are still some decent people in the world.

I greatly reduced my wallet size and what I carry every day when I got my iPhone 6+.
Basically because there was less room in the pocket!
But I find you end up carrying a lot more stuff than you need out of habit more than everything else.

 

[snorkelman]

Congratulations Really pleased to find out you got it back As has already been said is good to see there's still people out there willing to go the extra mile and do the right thing

I considered the chain but with my track record I'd only go and lose the wallet, chain, belt and trousers

 

[0388631]

Keep your wallet in your front pocket. Learned that many years ago. You'll feel it if someone tries to take it and you'll feel it with each step. There was some research a long time ago that showed men who used thick wallets had misaligned spines due to their hips being at angle due to the wallet.

 

[Gutwrench]

Should da bought a tile.

 

[Tech198]

I have lost my wallet several times, but as of now, its even more important i don't loose it, since i have my usb encryption keys to my entire network on their as only copies.... I refuse to keep a second set somewhere else because if i burgled, a "secret" place would be no secret anymore if they tair the place apart., and trusting mates with MY passwords is nuts.

now, i make doubly sure i never loose my wallet...... Hash punishment yes, but its the only way i'll learn if if THAT important.

Never lost my wallet since. so it works

I keep my wallet in front jacket always, as I don't have back pockets and even if i did, i'd be crazy to think of putting anything in it where i cannot see it.

 

[Huntn]

Should da bought a tile.

Translate please.

 

[mac666er]

A Ray of Sunshine-
This morning a good Samaritan appeared on my doorstep with my wallet, found in the McDonald's parking lot!! Apparently it did not find its way completely into my pocket. He even tried to call the emergency number I had put on the back of my DL, but it was an old number. Yet, still, I'm happy and rewarded him.

With all the nonsense that happens in the world, and the vitriol I have seen fly in these forums... This brings back to me hope in humanity and that we are not just a complete genetic cul-de-sac.

Glad that you recovered everything AND encountered a gentle soul as well. Those two are very hard to come by.

 

[decafjava]

Gee the same thing happened to me several years ago. Was on the bus and got "bumped" by some guys getting off at a stop (was super crowded that day) and my wallet - which was in my front pocket was gone. I noticed almost right away. Nothing to be done but cancel my cards and prepare to go to the police. But I also got a phone call from a fellow who found it on the ground - minus cash - but everything else was there. Very lucky and the amount of cash was pretty small (50 francs or so).

 

[Gutwrench]

Translate please.

https://www.thetileapp.com

 

[Jessiekey]

Keep your wallet in your front pocket, so that you will be alert when anyone tries to steal it.

 

[maflynn]

Glad you had the wallet returned to you. I've come close to losing it, i.e., misplaced and searched for hours.

I'm probably going to clean it out, and only keep the bare minimum in there. I also like the advice you posted.
[doublepost=1461928785][/doublepost]

and maybe go shopping for one of those chains people use to connect their wallets to their belts.

Tattoos are a requirement for that type of wallet



Seriously I like those, but it doesn't fit my usage.
[doublepost=1461929281][/doublepost]

https://www.thetileapp.com

I'm liking that, I may get that for my keys.