Here are some key steps to take if you lose your wallet

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I was packing up to head home from work last week when I noticed something made my stomach sick.

The space in my backpack normally occupied by my wallet was empty.

I searched every nook and cranny of my bag and even crawled under my desk to search for the small pouch that was home to my driver’s license, credit and debit cards and a New York City MetroCard. I checked with security to see if someone turned it in. No one had.

Eventually, tired from my frantic searching, I accepted defeat and contacted the bank to lock my cards. 

As a CNBC intern who recently joined the personal finance desk, I spend most days speaking with finance experts to inform the stories I write. After losing my wallet, I decided to ask a few sources what course of action I should take to protect my money and identity.

They validated some of the things I had already done and provided extra security steps I hadn’t considered. 

‘Everyone should freeze their credit’

Replacing cards and ID

I filed a lost and found report with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in hopes that my wallet was found in the subway and turned in by a good Samaritan.

I then made a list of everything that was in my wallet … and that was the easy part.

The hard part was getting replacements for everything on my list. I first needed to call each issuer to report the card as lost to ensure I wasn’t responsible for any charges incurred if someone found the wallet and went on a spending spree.

I live in New York City as I attend graduate school and intern at CNBC for the summer. However, my permanent address is in North Carolina.

This made requesting a replacement driver’s license tricky. After initially contacting the DMV, I was directed to the state transportation department to change my mailing address so they could send it across state lines, and a week later and I’m still without a license.

The North Carolina DMV did email me a temporary driving certificate, but it doesn’t have photo identification on it. A DMV employee told me over the phone that the third-party contractor that prints their IDs is experiencing delays and that it could take up to 30 days to receive the replacement. I have been relying on my passport for identification in the meantime, but it feels risky carrying that around the city. 

Other tips and tricks to manage a lost wallet

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