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Lose your wallet? Identity theft or fraud may follow

Take action when your finances and safety are compromised with a lost wallet.

Our purses and wallets contain crucial information, so protect yourself and minimize identity fraud risk by limiting what you carry. More cards can spell out more financial losses. On an average day, you may only need your driver's license, cash and a credit card for emergencies.

If your purse or wallet is stolen, it's alarming and potentially dangerous — for your finances, identity and personal safety.

The following steps can help minimize your identity fraud risk:

Contact your financial institutions. Call your bank and credit card companies to stop any transactions and order new cards with new account numbers. After the theft, carefully review your account statements to keep an eye out for unauthorized purchases — your credit card company may reimburse them. Proactively adding your financial institution's phone number to your phone contacts assures you can make contact quickly, if needed.
File a police report. It offers a chance to recover your wallet and provides some protection against identity theft. It's also a good way to catalog your wallet's contents. Request a copy of the report for your records.
Get a new license. Contact your local Department of Motor Vehicles to learn how. Some offices offer online replacement services, while others require you to appear in person.

State Farm^® offers Identity Restoration Insurance that can help make restoring your financial state less painful and costly. For more information about Identity Restoration Insurance, contact your State Farm agent.

The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with State Farm^® (including State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates). While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. State Farm is not responsible for, and does not endorse or approve, either implicitly or explicitly, the content of any third party sites that might be hyperlinked from this page. The information is not intended to replace manuals, instructions or information provided by a manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional, or to affect coverage under any applicable insurance policy. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.