Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Corner: What’s in your wallet?

If your wallet was lost or stolen, would you know exactly which credit, debit and gift cards were inside? Do you carry other vital personal documents in your wallet? How much cash do you carry? How much do you really need to carry with you?

This information would be needed if your wallet was stolen or lost. When that occurs, victims are often angry, sad or confused. That is a benefit to the thieves because they can keep spending your money until you block those debit and credit cards.

Here are a few simple suggestions to protect yourself:

•Write down or record all of your credit and debit card numbers and put that list in a safe place.

•Place all the cards on your printer/scanner and make a copy.

•Use your smartphone and take a photo. Don’t leave the photo on your smartphone once you’ve gathered the info. If you lose your smartphone, you would be handing over all your information.

•Store the card numbers in a safe and secure place.

Debit cards are handy, but they could pose the most stress for you if stolen. A thief can take your debit card and spend all your money in a relatively short time. That means that if your paycheck is deposited into the account that your debit card is connected to, you face the situation that all your readily available cash is gone — and may not be available for almost two weeks. If you have no other readily available money you could be facing a stressful time as you wait for your money to be replaced into your account. For that reason it may be wise not to keep much cash in the debit card account.

With the ability to transfer funds electronically into our debit card accounts, you could transfer what you plan to spend prior to the purchase and not leave your money vulnerable to thieves. Check with your financial institution about the reporting requirements with regard to reimbursement. Time is of the essence when receiving reimbursement.

Know what gift cards you have in your wallet. Although you may not be able to be reimbursed for the loss, you can check the balance on the cards and help the detectives track where the cards are used. You might solve another crime just by knowing your gift card numbers.

Don’t carry your Social Security card, birth certificate or other valuable personal documents with you unless you have a purpose for using them. Don’t give the thieves more information to commit identity theft using your identification.

In short, carry only the credit or debit cards you think you’ll need when you go out. Leaving the others at home reduces your potential risk (and might even help you save money).

Take the time to create a record of all your cards and put that list away for safekeeping — hopefully you will never need to use that list but if you do, you will be glad you did.

For more information or questions, call Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Specialist Barbara Wallace at 760-738-2425.