The FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act) limits your liability for unauthorized credit card charges to a maximum of $50. So if you just realized your credit card is missing, there's no reason to enter "freak out" mode. You're going to be okay.
Instead, take a deep breath, relax, and follow these 3 steps:
- Call your credit issuer immediately and report the credit card as lost/missing. Once it's reported, you're no longer responsible for any purchases made on the card. There's a good chance your credit issuer offers $0 fraud liability too, which means you wouldn't be responsible for any unauthorized purchases in the first place. Still, you should make this call first.
- Request that a new card be sent to you in the mail. This won't cost you anything, and many credit issuers can have a new credit card to you in less than a week.
- Pay extra close attention to your credit card statement for the next few months. If anything looks strange or just doesn't add up, report it to your credit issuer and request an investigation of the charges.
