# Report a lost credit card to the police? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284 "2010-12-07T16:32:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/1 "2010-12-07T16:32:17Z")
I just reported a lost credit card. I know it was lost, not stolen. When I reported it as lost, the credit card company’s representative asked me if I filed a police report. I said: _No, it is lost, not stolen._ He seemed to think I should call the police anyway. Is this common? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/2 "2010-12-07T16:39:03Z")
Not as far as I know. And, it is a waste of police resources. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/3 "2010-12-07T16:49:32Z")
That was my thought too. And I figure they’d be annoyed as well! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/4 "2010-12-07T16:50:08Z")
I recently lost my wallet (I think I dropped it in the parking lot while shopping), and had to make a lot of phone calls to several credit card companies. Not one suggested contacting the police. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/5 "2010-12-07T16:50:37Z")
When I reported my lost wallet - with cards inside - the police were not interested in the card details. ---
**Author:** ![SurveyorAlpha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@SurveyorAlpha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurveyorAlpha)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/6 "2010-12-07T17:09:27Z")
My wife recently managed to lose my card (she thinks she may have thrown it away)- I was definitely not asked to report it to the police. The company issued me a new one, put a hold on my old one, in the event that I might be able to find it, and then completely cancelled it when I activated the new card 7 days later. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/7 "2010-12-07T23:10:59Z")
Absolutely not necessary. You probably got a rep who was clueless, stupid, or brand new. You’d only report to the police in the case of identity theft. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/8 "2010-12-08T01:27:39Z")
You need to report it to the police IF something is charged on it. I lost my wallet and they charged about $2,000 on it. In order to get the charges taken off, I had to file a police report that the wallet was stolen and all list all the cards in it. Then the credit card companies sent me a form. I had to list the false charges and have it notorized. Then I had to send that along with a copy of the police report. Then they took the charges off. The funny thing was I reported it in 30 minutes and charges were still being made 3 days later. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/9 "2010-12-08T03:55:52Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > You need to report it to the police IF something is charged on it. I lost my wallet and they charged about $2,000 on it. In order to get the charges taken off, I had to file a police report that the wallet was stolen and all list all the cards in it. > > Then the credit card companies sent me a form. I had to list the false charges and have it notorized. Then I had to send that along with a copy of the police report. Then they took the charges off. The funny thing was I reported it in 30 minutes and charges were still being made 3 days later. Sometimes. I had two CC’s stolen over the years, and in neither case did they ask for a police report. In one case they did ask for a notarized statement. But yes, if there are fraud charges, a police report is not unreasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-a-lost-credit-card-to-the-police/563284/10 "2010-12-08T15:30:33Z")
IF STOLEN: You SHOULD report it, so you can have a standard police report available to you. WHY? If it results in you being a victim of fraud, the police report can be sent to credit bureaus, who MUST accept it. Lost? Not so much!