A money order enables you to send funds securely without a bank account or large sums of cash. If a money order is lost or stolen, there’s cause for concern. But if you act quickly, you can request a refund or replacement.
Whether your money order is misplaced, lost in the mail or stolen from a mailbox, learn how to track a money order and get your money back.
Losing a Money Order
Money orders are a prepaid form of secured payment, so it’s less worrisome to lose a money order than it is to lose cash. Unlike cash, a money order may be tracked, canceled and replaced if necessary.
“Like cash and regular checks, money orders are susceptible to being lost or stolen,” says Leslie Tayne, a financial attorney and managing director of Tayne Law Group in New York. “For example, if a money order was sent via mail and never arrived at its destination, it might be lost in transit. It’s also possible for a money order to be stolen from a mailbox or simply misplaced.”
In addition to misplacement, theft or robbery, a money order could be lost to accidental damage or natural disasters such as fires or floods.
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Steps To Find a Lost or Stolen Money Order
Don’t panic if your money order is lost or stolen. You can take steps to recover it, but you’ll need to act fast before it’s cashed.
“If the money order is missing and you have checked pretty much everywhere you possibly kept it, then chances are it got lost,” says Ohan Kayikchyan, money coach and certified financial planner. “I suggest contacting the money order issuer right away to report it as lost. You will need to provide details of the check to the issuer and cancel it immediately to request a refund or a replacement money order.”
Have your receipt or stub with the money order’s details when you contact the issuer, Tayne says. “This receipt contains vital information needed to report the missing money order. If you don’t have the receipt, you may need to pay a fee to track down the missing money order, and it may take several weeks to process the request,” she says. “If you can’t track down the original money order, you may be able to file a claim to have it replaced or refunded.”
Follow these steps to track and replace a lost or stolen money order.
1. Confirm it’s lost or stolen. Before you try to replace your money order, be sure it’s gone for good. Mail may take longer than you think, so it’s a good idea to track your money order mail to confirm it’s reached the intended payee. Likewise, reach out to the payee to confirm receipt.
2. Contact the issuer. If you’re sure a money order is lost or stolen, you’ll need to contact the money order issuer immediately. Be ready with purchase information, such as the serial number and issued amount.
3. Track the money order. Use the issuer’s tracking process to find out the status of the money order. This step is key to finding out if the money order has been cashed yet.
4. Request a replacement or refund. You might be able to request a stop payment, though not all money issuers offer cancellation. You can ask the issuer to issue a replacement check or refund your money. Most issuers will require a fee and will have a waiting period for replacing or refunding a money order.
5. File a police report. If you believe the money order was stolen, file a police report to establish a record of theft.
Reporting a money order loss or theft quickly is key because issuers generally don’t offer a refund or replacement once the money order is cashed.
“If the money order hasn’t been cashed, you might be able to request a stop payment,” says Tayne, noting that the U.S. Postal Service doesn’t allow stop payments on money orders. “Keep in mind there might be a fee for this service.”
Tayne says it can be helpful to report money order theft to local law enforcement. “They may or may not be able to assist directly, but having a record of the report can be useful if there’s a dispute or fraud investigation later,” she says.
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How To Track a Money Order
“As soon as you realize the money order is missing, contact the issuer, whether it’s a bank, credit union, convenience store, post office, or a service like Western Union or MoneyGram,” says Tayne. “They can provide guidance on the next steps and assist in tracking the money order.”
Here’s how to track a money order with popular issuers.
— MoneyGram. Visit MoneyGram’s transfer page and enter your reference number, last name, date of birth and receiver’s last name to track the status of your money order. If you need to cancel a money order, you can cancel it online once you get through the tracking page or use the self-service portal. MoneyGram will process your request within seven to 10 business days. Replacement requests cost $25 for money orders $50 and over, or 50% of the money order’s face value for those under $50.
— USPS. Use the USPS Money Orders Application to check the status of a money order using the serial number, post office number and dollar amount. You can’t stop payment on postal money orders, though you can replace a lost or stolen money order. USPS may require up to 30 days to confirm loss or theft and up to 60 days to investigate the status. You’ll pay a $21 processing fee for a replacement.
— Western Union. Call (800) 999-9660 or visit the Western Union Track a Transfer page to check the status of your money order. If it hasn’t been cashed, you can fill out the Money Order Customer Request form to request a refund. You’ll pay a $15 processing fee, deducted from the refund, to process the request. It takes about 30 days to complete a money order refund.
Kayikchyan says almost all money order issuers charge a cancellation fee to cover the administrative costs of refunding or reissuing an order. It generally takes between a week to 60 days to process a refund, he says.
Money order issuers may waive refund processing fees under some situations, says Tayne. “For example, if the money order was stolen and you filed a police report, some issuers may waive the fees as a goodwill gesture. If you’re a regular customer of a particular institution, especially a community bank or credit union, they might consider waiving the fee to maintain a good relationship.”
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Preventing Lost or Stolen Money Orders
Replacing or refunding a lost or stolen money order is possible but not always easy. And you’ll generally pay a hefty fee to do so while waiting potentially weeks to recover your funds. It’s best to protect money orders to minimize the risk of loss or theft.
Use these tips to help prevent lost or stolen money orders.
— Keep the money order and receipt in a safe place until you’re ready to use it. Better yet, don’t buy a money order until you need it.
— Create a digital copy of the money order and receipt to reference the information after you send the physical copy.
— Always complete every line on a money order, especially the payee line, so it’s more difficult for a thief to put their name as the payee.
— Use certified or registered mail when mailing a money order to confirm delivery.
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How To Find a Lost or Stolen Money Order originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/16/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.