meh. cancel your debit card. you can get a new SS card and drivers license, idk what they cost in your state. school ID can prolly be replaced, idk what school you go to. Do you use it to pay for things on campus? or... something?

a birth certificate should be fine to get your SS card. If not they maybe accept library card or bills etc. there is always something you can use.

:s

"SS card"
Somehow that brings Germany in my mind.

PS.
I'm sorry for your loss

Birth Cerificate is usually enough to get both IDs. At least in Ohio and Kentucky it is.

Debit card was cancelled, I'm getting it replaced tomorrow. School ID gets me into my dorm room and pays for meals, so yeah, it was pretty important... luckily I've already got that replaced as well. It's mainly "SS card and driver's license require each other to get a replacement" that's tripping me up, but I think I'll be able to get 'em back fine eventually. I'm just a little worried about the whole "my SS card is out in the big bad world somewhere" thing.

LOL. SS = Social Security. :p

Good call re: birth certificate, guys. Didn't even think of that one. Only downside is that requires me to tell my parents I lost my SS card in my wallet and hearing my paranoid dad flip a shit, but meh, w/e. I'm just glad the conundrum's fixed.

Couldn't you use Passport aswell ?

I... don't actually know if I have a passport. ;>_> If I have one, I've never had occasion to use it that I can remember. Birth certificate should suffice... it better!

Considering passports expire, you'd know if you had one and, unless you've left the country, the odds are you *don't*. Birth Certificate is the way your parents got your original SSN Card, so it will do the job.

:o
You never fled the states?

And i've touched the soil of 11 nations.
Sometimes it is good to be small. (nation)

@Hernando - My point was that most people don't get passports unless they plan to leave. I've been in 7 nations besides the US. But many Americans never leave the states, or at least didn't leave beyond the open borders of Canada or on a cruise back when a driver's license or the cruise's room card/pass would suffice. I was in Belize and Mexico without a passport (befor eI got mine) because the cruise could be done without one. I didn't get one until my first business trip to Germany, where I hit Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Might be a good time to invest in some sort of identity protection...Not sure if that stuff works (Lifelock or whatever) but if some nefarious bastard has a woody over screwing you (oh wait...King Atom isnt' here any more...) then a few bucks a month might not be a bad idea. SS and Driver's License...yick!

Never fled the States indeed. Birth certificate it is for me.

"but if some nefarious bastard has a woody over screwing you (oh wait...King Atom isnt' here any more...)"

LOL. +1 for that, and +1 for the identity protection suggestion. I can be a bit absentminded and I could see myself misplacing my wallet again. >_<

@Draugnar
When I said what I said, I ment it for the Mr. Eden here, as he said he didn't know if he had passport.

Well, I don't really know how the things goes on in the states, perhaps it is so vast that there ain't always need to visit the other countries.

Being in EU has it's moments.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft/

LOL

@hernando - the state of alaska is as big as all of europe and the us is nearly as big as the entire former soviet union. So no, we don't need passports to travel several thousand miles and eden's reference to his SS card told me he was american (I already knew this but still) so that was why I answered. That and you didn't specify eden in your post.

Why do you need to tell your parents anything? Need to know basis, and they don't need to know jack. You're over 18 (I assume), take care of it yourself.

Other than canceling the debit card, there's not much to be done on an immediate basis. You'll eventually want to get a new SS card (you fucktard) but I wouldn't stress about the loss of the old one. For all the identity theft hype that goes on out there, it is appallingly easy to get access to other people's SS numbers. Odds are, whoever got your wallet took the cash and dumped the rest.

IIRC in my state (California), you don't need to have a birth certificate or SS card to get a replacement CDL. You just go in to the Dept of Motor Vehicles (no appt. needed) and say you lost it, fill out a form and pay the fee. They take your picture and fingerprint and mail the new card to the address already on file, so what harm could there be of an imposter?

Health insurance card and school ID card are easily replaced. I don't even know what a voter registration card is. When it's time to vote, I just show up at the polling place with my driver's license and they let me vote.

Eden,

Hanged man is right. More likely than not (though not certainly) they won't use your SS card. I would recommend filing a police report though so that it's on record now that you lost it. It could make dealing with any later identity theft somewhat easier.

One point there: if you do file a police report, then it could slightly complicate getting a new driver's license, especially if they're not in the same state: if you report a license stolen in one state and then get a replacement with the same number from the other, I have found that you may have the pleasant experience of getting asked to come join an officer in his car after what was a routine traffic stop. (Fortunately he was a reasonable guy and it turned out OK).

So, moral of the story -- if you report the theft (and you should since you lost your SS card), make sure you report the license _stolen_ and not just missing, so you get a new number.

Voter card doesn't matter at all, unless your state is far different from mine. Just use your driver's lic.... oh yeah. :-P

Oh, and it couldn't hurt to let your bank know that they have your SS card, either. They know where you bank, after all, and if somebody comes in saying he lost his ID but can he please gain access to your accounts and he has his SS card....
... yeah, I'd tell your bank.

There's a triumvirate of credit agencies that work together. If you report a lost card card to any one of them, then it is entered for all of them and your name is flagged for special scrutiny for like the next six months if you try to open an account or get a new credit card, etc. That takes care of your reporting on a national basis. I assume those same agencies cover debit cards as well as credit cards. IMO, that is probably more effective than reporting it to the police. If you want fraud protection, you want to be able to say you gave notice to the banks. The police aren't going to do anything for you in that regard.

United States Federal Trade Commission says:

ATM or Debit Card Loss or Fraudulent Transfers (EFTA). Your liability under federal law for unauthorized use of your ATM or debit card depends on how quickly you report the loss. If you report an ATM or debit card missing before it's used without your permission, the EFTA says the card issuer cannot hold you responsible for any unauthorized transfers. If unauthorized use occurs before you report it, your liability under federal law depends on how quickly you report the loss.

For example, if you report the loss within two business days after you realize your card is missing, you will not be responsible for more than $50 for unauthorized use. However, if you don't report the loss within two business days after you discover the loss, you could lose up to $500 because of an unauthorized transfer. You also risk unlimited loss if you fail to report an unauthorized transfer within 60 days after your bank statement containing unauthorized use is mailed to you. That means you could lose all the money in your bank account and the unused portion of your line of credit established for overdrafts. However, for unauthorized transfers involving only your debit card number (not the loss of the card), you are liable only for transfers that occur after 60 days following the mailing of your bank statement containing the unauthorized use and before you report the loss.

If unauthorized transfers show up on your bank statement, report them to the card issuer as quickly as possible. Once you've reported the loss of your ATM or debit card, you cannot be held liable for additional unauthorized transfers that occur after that time.

When you go to get a new driver's license you can get a new voter card.
Eden, for my curiosity, what type of phone do you have?

I'd say you're at a solid "Sidewalk food vendor in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945" level...

:/

Good luck...sorry...

Depends on how fast you contact the bank and whether or not they think you're scamming them. If someone takes all your cash and your bank doesn't believe you (like mine did), then you're Kim Kardashian.

Debit card is your first priority. You'll have to file a police report if you find unauthorized transactions on your card before the bank will do anything.
SS card replaces easily and is your second priority
Driver's License is number 3

Well that was anticlimactic. The damn wallet fell between the console and the driver's seat!

I'm good to go folks. Thanks for all the suggestions, though. Good to know in the event that I actually *do* lose my wallet...

Some replies --

@The Hanged Man: While I am indeed over 18, I don't have my own place yet, and I didn't bring my birth certificate to my dorm for situations such as these, so it's still at their place. I would have been somewhat hard-pressed to explain why I took my birth certificate out without telling them I lost the SS card, because they would be expecting only that I lost the driver's license, and that I could just use the SS card to identify myself and get the replacement license, and thus that I wouldn't need the birth certificate for anything. It is need-to-know basis, I agree (if you remember that I had to replace my hard drive, they have no clue any of that even happened), but seeing as how they have my birth certificate, it would be difficult to make it *not* need-to-know.

(a) moral of the story to take home: don't lost your wallet, but if you do, make sure you have your own birth certificate!

@Debit card: I actually got that shit secured really easy, got the card cancelled within about 2 hours of losing my wallet and noticed no transactions on the account that weren't mine.

@Geofram: Pantech P7000

" The damn wallet fell between the console and the driver's seat!

Classic. If you were pro at losing things like myself, you would know that is one of the first places to look.

So, did you take your SS card out of your wallet yet?

^lol yes. though having it sitting in a box at my girlfriend's apartment probably isn't the safest place either

The second place to look is between the seat and the door sill, and then under the driver's seat. Or, if you wear your wallet in your back left pocket, look between the seat and the door sill first.

So now that you have plenty of time, why not take steps to get an original birth certificate for yourself? If you contact the recorder's office for the county where you were born (ideally forms are available online), you can pay them to mail you as many originals as you want to order.

Glad this was resolved well. Also question. I had a lengthy argument with a friend who told me that all responsible adults program the numbers you call to cancel your credit and debit cards into their cell phones so they can cancel the cards immediately upon realizing their wallet has been stolen. I said that was overkill and that most people actually make due by simply keeping a photocopy of the cards filed away, and that should you call to cancel a stolen card they will usually check immediately and remove any charges that aren't yours. I mean, obviously her solution is a sensible and convenient one, so I ended up giving in and just programming those numbers into my phone, but I was wondering if anyone else here has taken those steps or if my friend is perhaps a little bit more neurotic than the average person.

Good that you found your wallet!
It is indeed very disturbing when you lose something, but infact, it still isn't really lost.
Even worse when you think that it was stolen :/

[Off Topic]
@Draugnar
About the sizes of countries:
I do not know where you have studied Geography but,

1. "The state of alaska is as big as all of Europe"
- Just European Union, is like 2,5x the size of Alaska...

2. "the us is nearly as big as the entire former soviet union."
- I do not know if you count Canada into the US in there,
If not, even the Current Russia is almost 2x the size of the USA (when not counting Alaska)
But if you did, even then, The Soviet Union was bigger than USA+Canada by the size of India.


I also knew that Eden was from America, but yeah, perhaps I should have specified him in my post.

lmao, epic story. Glad to hear your stuff wont be compromised. But yeah, extremely personal stuff like that should never be kept in your wallet.

@Mafia. I do not pre-program the stolen credit card number into my phone. I've only had to use it twice in my life, and neither was an every second counts situation. I also do not pre-program the Poison Control Center emergency number just in case someone has swallowed poison -- which really is more the type of number you would want to have on speed dial rather than waste a few minutes looking it up. I do include ICE (In Case of Emergency) numbers so that if I swallow poison and nobody has pre-programmed the Poison Control number, the paramedics will know who to call with the bad news.

@Hanged Man - having those numbers in your phone is useless. The paramedics are not allowed to get on your phone. They have to wait until the police arrive and even then, you phone probably has a password that will take them time to hack. Go get a Road ID - the interactive dog tag style - and the paramedics will have access to everything that could save your life at the speed of the internet or an IVR system.

www.roadid.com

Disclaimer - I *used* to work for them and I am the programmer behind the interactive website (www.myroadid.com) and the IVR phone system.

@Hernando - I don't always think about all of Europe. I have a ba dhabit of thinkiong of Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Germany. But my point was that you travel the distance of Ohio to California in the US with just a driver's license where as there is no where in Europe you can travel that distance without a passport and many countries in the EU are smaller than many of our states. So most US citizens only bother with a passport if they plan to head to Mexico, Canada, or overseas. We can travel thousands of miles without one here.

If not paramedics,then bystander in the street. I'd rather have an ICE number in there than not. Also, I don't password my phone.

And you think the EMTs will just let a bystander rummage through your phone? And what happens when you are hit by a hit and run and you phone gets broken or it sails out of your car into the brush at night when you are t-boned by a drunk who ran a red light? No, wearable ID is the way to go and the annual cost for their service is less than dinner out with your girlfriend/spouse/whatever.

I agree with Draug on the reason why Americans dont get passports. Most Americans dont leave the states. Hell, I drive from Vegas to upstate NY and back pretty frequently, and it takes me about 40-46 hours. If I drove that long in Europe, I have no idea how far I could get, lol. But I would cross many countries and wouldnt get anywhere without a passport. All I need over here is a driver's license.

Actually within the Schengen Area (currently 25 European countries incl. most EU countries and countries such as Iceland, Norway, and Swiss) you do not need a passport to travel. There aren't any internal border controls either; in that sense travelling here is very similar to travelling in between different states in the US. This treaty has already been in place for a good 25 years so nowadays most Europeans also only have a national ID card or driver's license.

Of course a difference between the US and Europe is that when you travel a 1000 miles in Europe you'll find yourself in a completely different culture. Imo that cultural difference is both the best and worst aspect of Europe: diversity keeps life interesting, it's great you can interact with people from so many cultures without too much red tape to hold you back. On the other hand I think the main reason for the debt crisis in Europe also stems from cultural differences. It's hard to convince Germans to work till they're 67 if people in the South of Europe retire in their mid fifties or early sixties, for example.