{"id":30836,"date":"2026-08-27T17:18:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/what-to-do-if-you-find-a-bank-card\/30836\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T17:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:18:42","slug":"what-to-do-if-you-find-a-bank-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/what-to-do-if-you-find-a-bank-card\/30836\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do if you find someone else’s bank card"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neighborhood chats regularly light up with posts about found bank cards. People mean well, they want to help a neighbor out, so they post a photo of the card with the number and other details fully visible. Others mention leaving the card with a security guard, cashier, or manager at whatever store or business happens to be the closest. Today we\u2019re going to explain why none of that is a good idea, and what you should actually do if you find someone else\u2019s bank card.<\/p>\n

What NOT to do with a found card, and why<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start with why you shouldn\u2019t post a photo of the card with its details visible in a group chat, keep the card, or hand it to a stranger. The first reason is the most obvious, but worth spelling out anyway: card details are private information that shouldn\u2019t be shared with people who have no business seeing them. A photo posted in a group chat can end up in the hands of criminals, who may try to use those details to make fraudulent purchases online. The worst-case scenario is a photo showing both sides of the card that also exposes the three-digit security code (known as the CVC, CVV, or CVP) on the back.<\/p>\n

Now for a less obvious point: why you shouldn\u2019t post about finding a card, even with the number blurred out, and then hold on to it, planning to return it once the owner turns up. Since there\u2019s no guarantee you were the first person to have the card in your hands, doing this puts you at risk of coming under suspicion if money disappears from that account. Even if you had absolutely nothing to do with any theft, the mere fact that the card was in your possession for a while could still land you in an uncomfortable conversation with its owner or the police.<\/p>\n

The same logic applies to handing the card over to a third party. A security guard, cashier, or manager is just as much a stranger as anyone else, and none of them have any special authority to take charge of a found bank card. Handing it to them gives them the opportunity to use someone else\u2019s money themselves, and if that happens, you could end up as a person of interest.<\/p>\n

An \u201cout of sight \u2014 out of mind\u201d approach, that is, leaving the card where you found it, or moving it somewhere more visible, is safer for you personally, but it\u2019s still not really the right call. If you do that, someone else will find it, and there\u2019s no guarantee that they\u2019ll be a decent person. They might try to drain money from the rightful owner\u2019s account. So this isn\u2019t a good option either.<\/p>\n

What you should actually do with a found bank card<\/h2>\n

Now let\u2019s talk about what you should do instead. The right approach might surprise you: call the bank that issued the card, report that you\u2019ve found it, and then\u2026 destroy the card. It\u2019s entirely possible the owner hasn\u2019t even noticed it\u2019s missing yet: with contactless payments now so widespread, a physical card can sit untouched in a wallet for quite a while. The bank will block the card, notify the owner that it\u2019s gone, and issue a new one.<\/p>\n

That last step, destroying the card, probably raises even more questions. But we\u2019ll stand by it: a found card should be destroyed. That way, no one can possibly use it, and you won\u2019t have to hold onto someone else\u2019s property or risk coming under suspicion if money goes missing from the account. The simplest and most reliable way to destroy a card is to carefully cut it into small pieces with kitchen scissors and throw it in the trash or recycle it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s something worth keeping in mind: these days, a physical card isn\u2019t actually worth all that much to its rightful owner. For one thing, banks reissue cards quickly and easily. With most banks, you won\u2019t even need to visit a branch, since the new card gets delivered straight to your door.<\/p>\n

For another, getting a new card issued usually doesn\u2019t leave the owner unable to pay for things in the meantime: in many cases, they can just switch to a virtual card or another payment method. So a destroyed card is a much smaller headache for its owner than the risk of it ending up in the wrong hands and being used to drain their account.<\/p>\n

And if the card\u2019s disgruntled owner does somehow track you down with questions, just show them this article so they can appreciate the trouble they avoided, thanks to you.<\/p>\n

When you shouldn\u2019t destroy a found card<\/h1>\n

Beyond bank cards, there are also multi-purpose cards, such as ones issued to schoolchildren and students that combine a few functions, like a school or university access pass and a public transit pass. Kids, especially younger ones, lose this kind of cards fairly often. Restoring full functionality on cards like these can take much longer than reissuing a bank card, and the amounts stored on them are usually small, so if you find one, your best move is to take it to the school or university named on the card and hand it to security or the front office.<\/p>\n

In short: what to do if you find someone else\u2019s card<\/h2>\n

To sum it up, if a lost bank card ends up in your hands:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Look for the bank\u2019s phone number on the card. It\u2019s usually printed there; if not, you can easily find it on the bank\u2019s official website. Then give them a call. Let them know you\u2019ve found someone else\u2019s card.<\/li>\n
  2. After the call, destroy the card: cut it into small pieces with scissors and throw it away.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And one more reminder of what not to do: don\u2019t post photos of the card or its details in chats or on social media, don\u2019t hold on to the card hoping to track down the owner, and don\u2019t hand it over to strangers.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019d also recommend following our blog\u00a0to stay on top of the latest online threats. And feel free to share this article in that neighborhood chat so your neighbors know exactly what to do if they ever find someone else\u2019s bank card.<\/p>\n

    As for protecting your own money, it\u2019s worth using a robust, multi-layered security solution<\/a>\u00a0that safeguards your money, cards, wallets, and payments. Read more in Five Kaspersky technologies to protect your finances<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

    What other hidden risks do bank cards carry? Find out in our other posts:<\/p>\n