Now that you have let your friend charge up a fortune, you will need to get a job and pay for it. Seriously. You gave your friend access to your card, you put your card in their possession- you owe the bill. The rules for loaning a card are much different than having a stolen card. But be wary of reporting this loan gone wrong as stolen. In the event your card truly is stolen at some point, your profile will be subject to evaluation for fraud.
Many credit card providers offer guarantees for stolen cards, such as Platinum Edition Visa. This card provides FirstGuard, an identity theft protection service that is optional with sign up. FirstGuard charges a monthly fee of $.89 cents per every $100 of the total monthly outstanding new balance, which means if you charged $100 the first month and didn’t pay off the balance, you will only have to pay $.89 cents for your identity theft protection. As your balance continues to increase, so will your identity theft protection fees.
Once you have realized your card was stolen, you would contact the credit card provider as soon as possible, generally within 24 hours. Your legal liability is actually $50, which is often waived by a credit card provider. You will also be issued a new card number.
But none of this applies if you gave your friend permission to use your card. If you happened to have created a notarized, contract with your limit terms explicitly called out, you may have some legal recourse. However, usually when your friend is borrowing your card there isn’t quite time to google yourself a contract form and find a notary.
The next time your friend wants to borrow your card, you need to take the trip with them and make sure your short term loan to your friend doesn’t become your long term debt.
