What to Do When Your Purse is Stolen Abroad

Have you had your purse stolen abroad? Don’t worry, we’ll go through the steps to get you back on track.

No one plans for things to go wrong on vacation, but sometimes things happen. Unfortunately, no matter how cautious you are, you may end up being separated from your purse and some of your most valuable items while traveling abroad.

Knowing how to handle the situation and what to do when your purse is stolen is important. Trust me, I’ve been there and around many other victims of senseless crimes abroad, but it doesn’t have to ruin your trip. Let’s go into how to recover from a purse snatching or pickpocketing when traveling.

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So Your Purse is Missing… What’s Next?

Whether you were the victim of an armed robbery or a drunk mess who can’t remember where she left her purse, the problem remains the same: What do you do next?! Here’s a step by step process of what to do when your purse is stolen abroad.

1. Don’t Panic

Realizing all of your forms of identification and money are missing can make it easy to overreact. So first of all, don’t panic. You’ll need to settle down and wrap your head around the idea that you will likely never see your purse again.

2. Report It to the Police

While there may not be much the police can do to help you when your purse is stolen abroad, it’s still an important step. They may be able to locate it or have an idea of where your items may show up later on if they are pawned. And, this helps cities keep track of their crime rates.

The police can also help you find medical attention if you were hurt during the bag snatching. Hopefully this is not the case, but if you are hurt – call the emergency number of the country you’re in and get help immediately.

3. Inventory What You are Missing

Start inventorying what is missing. I recommend starting with items of importance or expense: Passport, phone, camera, credit and debit cards, cash, license…? And then moving on to the less important items, like chap-stick and aspirin.

4. Start Cancelling the Most Urgent Items: Credit and Debit Cards

If your credit or debit cards were stolen, call and cancel them immediately. It is likely the criminals will try to use them as soon as possible.

Fortunately, credit card companies are becoming very savvy at identifying fraud, and may even catch it themselves, but you should also reach out as quickly as you can to minimize the impact of the lost purse.

Ideally, you will have saved their international contact phone numbers before you went abroad. Or, you could reach out to your emergency contact back home who might have these details. Otherwise, find a computer and look up the contact information as soon as you can.

Replacing Your Credit or Debit Card

While you’re on the phone with your card company, ask about a replacement card. Depending where you are, they may be able to send you a replacement card within a few days.

In other cases, you may not be able to get a replacement card until you arrive back home or are in a location long enough for them to send it to you.

5. Secure Money to Continue Your Trip

If you don’t have an emergency stash of cash or credit card, you have a few options to continue being able to eat and pay for your accommodations while awaiting a card replacement or for the end of your trip.

1. Borrow Money from Your Travel Companion

If you are traveling with a friend, your situation is likely not as dire. Borrow money from your travel companion until you are able to access your own.

If it’s not someone you know very well, you can always send them money ahead of time through Venmo or Paypal to eliminate any concern on their part of you not repaying it.

2. Have Someone Send You Money or Send Yourself Money

If your bank card has been stolen and you cannot pull out money, contact someone back home to transfer money to you through a service like Western Union, Transferwise, or Azimo. There are usually many options to pick it up locally.

3. Work with a Fellow Traveler

If you are down on your luck and have no cards, identification, cash, etc. there are people out there who will help you. Make a friend, login to your account on Venmo or Paypal and send them money and have them pull it out of an ATM for you. This is a little bit higher stress, but there are good people in the world who will help. I promise.

I helped a young American girl who ended up stranded in Florence after her purse was stolen. She used my phone to login and send me money over wifi, we visited the ATM together, and I handed her the money she had transferred to me.

Fortunately, in her case, her family was meeting her in one week so it was a limited time problem. It went smoothly and she was able to survive until she met up with them.

4. Reach Out to Your Embassy or Consulate

More on this later, but that’s what they are there for – travel emergencies, like running out of money abroad!

5. Cancel Other Items, Like Your Phone

If your phone was in your purse, contact your carrier and cancel or put your phone service on hold to eliminate incurring any exorbitant charges.

Depending on your phone and carrier, you may be able to handle a few other things remotely:

Locate your phone

Erase your phone remotely

Recover your contacts and potentially more from a cloud backup provider (That’s why it’s important to always back up your phone!)

“Find My” is a great app that Apple iPhones have for this purpose.

Replacing Your Phone

If you’re traveling for a while, you may want to try and replace your phone on the road. Otherwise, I recommend you can wait until you return home. Or, it may be easiest to have someone from home send you a replacement while on the road. Keep in mind that if you have travel insurance, the cost of a new phone may be covered.

6. Contact Your Embassy

If your passport was stolen, or you are unable to get money, or heaven forbid, you are injured, contact your Embassy or Consulate. They will be your number one point of contact for replacing your passport, ensuring you stay in the country legally, or getting you home or on to your next location.

Your Embassy and Consulate are there to help you. They know some of the best ways to cope with the trauma you may be feeling. Don’t hesitate to reach out to them when you’re in trouble abroad.

Locate US Embassies and Consulates here.

7. Contact Your Travel Insurance Provider

Hopefully you have travel insurance. If so, now’s the time to contact them. They will help take the information they need to activate your benefits – sometimes it includes needing a police report.

I personally recommend World Nomad’s due to their coverage for both medical insurance and insuring my belongings. They also have great adventure travel coverage options.

Understand everything there is to know about Travel Insurance and if it is worth it.

8. Determine Your Next Steps

As much as a purse snatching abroad can put a damper on a trip and a bad taste in your mouth about the destination, try to enjoy the remainder of your trip. It was a one off bad experience likely surrounded by dozens of positive memories.

Don’t let it ruin your trip, but take the time you need to recover from the experience. Make adjustments to your itinerary to accommodate the inconvenience and address the potential shaken feeling you’re having after being a victim of a crime.

It may feel like a personal violation or maybe you’re playing the “what if” game. Don’t go down that path. Stay someplace you feel safe. If you’re alone, call someone you trust that gives you positive energy every time you talk. Work through your reactions and feelings. They’re justified.

If you can’t get past it, it may be worth cutting your trip short and returning home to get the support and help you need.

How to Mitigate Your Risk

While no one ever expects to be the target of a crime – including a purse snatching – you need to know the best practices for staying safe and minimizing your risk.

After all, prevention is so much easier than dealing with the aftermath of a stolen purse or armed robbery when traveling abroad – or locally for that matter!

1. Don’t Flash Your Wealth

From wearing expensive jewelry to carrying expensive camera equipment or pricey handbags, you could be making yourself a target for pick pocketing, bag snatching, or worse, armed robbery. Leave your expensive items at home or in the hotel safe when going out to unknown or unsafe areas of town.

2. Know What Areas to Avoid

Most cities have dangerous or unsavory areas that are known for high crime. Ask your hotel or hostel what areas in town you should avoid. While crimes can happen any time of day, you need to be especially vigilant about this at night.

3. Only Carry What You Need

Don’t carry things unnecessarily on you, especially in high crime areas. This is particularly true of important and hard to replace items, like your passport and credit cards. Only carry one debit or credit card at a time, and only carry enough cash to cover what you will need that day. Leave everything else secured in your room.

Please note that some activities or places will require you to have your passport on you. If this is NOT the case, do not carry it with you but lock it up in your room.

4. Keep an Emergency Stash of Cash and Extra Credit or Debit Card

I recommend always keeping some money hidden away “just in case”. This comes in handy if your purse is stolen or if your ATM card suddenly stops working, goes missing, etc. Most importantly, keep this stash in a place separate from your daily fund.

For example, keep what you need for the day in your purse or money belt and the rest in your main backpack. This way you have a backup with you.

5. Have an Emergency Contact Back Home

Before traveling abroad, you should always make sure to leave an itinerary and copies of your credit cards and passport with a friend or family member. This will help in case of any emergency, including the need to cancel your credit cards.

Read more about this tip in 9 Essential Things to Do Before Traveling Abroad.

6. Back Up Your Photos as You Go

Having your camera stolen or go missing mid-trip is heartbreaking. All of your photographs and memories from the trip are gone. If you’re traveling for a while, I recommend backing up your pictures as you go.

Some services will do this automatically for pictures on your phone, like Amazon Photos, Google Photos, or iCloud storage. I’ve also in the past uploaded photos to Google Drive during my trip, just in case.

7. Always Travel with Travel Insurance

Admittedly, I have not always traveled with travel insurance. I started making this part of my trip planning after I unfortunately was a victim of an armed robbery by a gang in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Now, I always make sure I’m covered before I step on the plane. I recommend you do too.

I use and recommend World Nomad’s as they don’t just cover medical insurance but also theft. They can help you get back on your feet in case something happens to you or your belongings. Check their rates here.

Additional Travel Tips

Now that you know how to handle a crisis, like what to do when your purse is stolen abroad, read more posts to prepare you for your next international travel adventure.

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What to Do When Your Purse is Stolen Abroad