subject: How To Protect Your Wallet Before It's Stolen [print this page] A thoroughly organized wallet is the best way of protecting yourself in the incident of wallet theft. Make a record of them items that you carry in your wallet. This will help you in reminding what all you have lost along with your wallet.
Keep a separate record of the necessary contact details. Contact details of banks, credit and debit card institutions, Bank account number, cards numbers, driving license number, social security card number etc have to be stored someone safely in your house. This will enable you to contact them in case of emergency. By providing them the necessary details of your account and your identity they can initiate the process of account freezing. By this way your credit and debit cards will become inactive. This prevents the use of credit cards at the ATM's, banks, billing centers etc. The money will remain safe in the bank.
Ask the bank authorities to issue you a non-debit ATM card. This will prevent the usage of the debit card to make purchases. It can only be used in ATM's. Also try to password lock the ATM card. Hence the card can only be used after entering the right password.
Always carry a well organized wallet. Clear your wallet once in a while. Remove the unnecessary bills, receipts, forms, visiting cards etc. This will prevent the wallet from getting bulky. It also provides easy access to the items inside it and avoids the situation in which you have to search for an item inside your wallet, during an emergency.
Try to keep original copies of driving license, personal ID cards and social security cards at home. If it is so necessary, you can carry an attested copy of these items. In case you miss your wallet, you still have those items securely with you. Do not carry all your credit and debit cards inside your wallet. Keep the most frequently used card in your wallet and store all the other safely at your home. Make sure you have not deposited all your money in a single account. It is always good to have them distributed in various accounts. So even if one card is lost, it does not deplete your bank account in an instant.
