What to Do When You Lose Your Wallet

U.S. News, also published in MSN Money, lays out the step-by-step recovery plan after a wallet goes missing: search first, cancel and replace cards, freeze your credit, file a police report, and contact the DMV and your health insurer. Ryan Cicchelli of Generations Insurance & Financial Services cautions against the knee-jerk cancel-everything reaction — take a few minutes to retrace your steps, but not too many, since waiting to report missing cards can leave you liable for fraudulent charges. He also notes that every card, receipt, and folded-up note in a stolen wallet is a potential means of stealing your money or identity, so all of it has to be dealt with quickly.