Card in your wallet. Charge on your account. Both can be true. Call the number on the back of your card right away, credit or debit. On credit, a stolen number generally costs you nothing. On debit, your speed decides what you owe. But on a credit card, that call isn't the whole job. There's a letter. Seven moves, in order. Which card got hit changes some of them. One: call your issuer or bank now, so you don't run out of time on your protections.

Two: debit card lost or stolen? Report within 2 business days of discovering it. A call counts. Three: credit card? Follow up with a letter to the billing disputes address. It may differ from payments. Four: put in your name, address, account number, and exactly what's wrong and why. Five: keep a copy of that letter. It's your proof you wrote. Six: keep paying the rest of the credit card bill on time.

Leave out only the disputed charge. Seven: if your bank asks you to confirm a debit dispute in writing, do it within 10 business days. Now the instinct that makes you shrug and scroll past it. I still have my card, so this can't be fraud. Your number can be stolen while the plastic sits safely in your wallet. The CFPB covers that exact case. Same protections? No. That depends on the card. Credit and debit look identical in your hand.

They run on different rules. On credit, the most you owe is $50, and many cardholder agreements say you owe nothing. Debit card lost or stolen? Report within 2 business days and you're capped at $50 or less. Wait longer, and you could be on the hook for up to $500. A PIN written on the card doesn't raise your debit liability. Still, don't. Debit card in hand? Your outer limit to report is 60 days after the statement showing the charge was sent.

Noticed months later? Report anyway. You could owe later transactions, if the bank shows reporting on time would've stopped them. Debit investigation past 10 business days? You generally get a temporary credit, minus up to $50. Credit dispute pending and the rest paid on time? No paying that charge, no interest, no late report. Company won't fix it? File a complaint with the CFPB, online or by phone.

And the FTC warns these charges might signal identity theft, one more reason to call right away. Call right away. Credit gets the letter. Debit gets speed. Keep paying what's yours. Your wallet tells you where the card is. It never tells you where the number's been.