Obviously, losing your credit card is bad for plenty of reasons. But say you lose it, report the loss, and get a new card without anyone else having used it in the meantime - no charges need to be reversed.
Will this damage your credit rating? If so, by how much?
Does this change if someone else has falsely used your card before it was reported?


In the long term, Loss or Theft of your credit card (whether used or not) will not affect your credit report or score. You are not liable for the charges made and your credit report is the report of your credit usage. Not the report of an identity theft's use of credit.

That being said, in the short term fraudulent charges and accounts could be opened which will be reported to your credit report (and affect your credit score) until you contact the Fraud Victim departments of the appropriate accounts and report the error. You would also contact the credit reporting bureaus and have them remove the offending accounts. Unfortunately, this is the victim part of identity theft and while it will have no long term affect, it may take a while to clear this up.

I've had identity theft problems crop up during a home loan refinancing. While the theft did not stop my refinance, it did cause me to take extra steps to convince them I didn't own a home in another state where the loan paperwork used my social security number. Someone else using my social security number for a mortgage and a credit card did not affect my credit score at all in the long term, but did cause me some minor headaches in the short term.


No it does not affect your ratings. If someone has used it before you reporting, it can affect the rating

  • 2
    I believe the only way that someone falsely using your card before you report it could be used against your credit rating is if it causes you to miss a payment or to carry a higher balance. If the credit card's protection kicks in and reverses the charges, this action in and of itself does not show up on credit reports, to my knowledge. – Erick Robertson Aug 24 '10 at 13:09

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