What to Do After Being Robbed or Mugged: A 2026 Recovery Guide

Being robbed or mugged can leave you shaken, hurt and dealing with lost cards and a lost phone at the same time. This guide lists the steps in a sensible order. You don’t have to do them all today, and a victim advocate can help with any of them for free.

1. Get to a safe place and get medical care if you need it.

If you were hurt, get checked by a doctor, even if the injury seems small. Keep copies of medical bills and receipts. Victim compensation programs ask for them.

2. Report the crime to the police.

Call 911 if the crime just happened or the person may still be nearby. Otherwise, call the non-emergency line. In New Orleans, that is (504) 821-2222. Ask for the report or item number and write it down. Banks, insurers and compensation programs ask for it.

Reporting quickly matters for compensation. In Louisiana, the crime must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours to qualify for crime victims reparations, unless there is a good reason it wasn’t. Other states set their own deadlines.

3. Write down what you remember.

Write down the time, the place, what the person looked like, what they said, which way they went and who saw it. Photograph any injuries and damaged belongings. Do this soon, because details fade.

4. Protect your phone, cards and accounts.

• Call your bank and card companies to lock or cancel your cards.
• If your iPhone was taken, use Find My on another device or at icloud.com/find to mark it as lost. Apple advises that you don’t remove it from Find My, because that makes it easier to erase and resell.
• Ask your wireless carrier to suspend your line.
• Change your email password first, then your bank and other passwords, from a device you trust.
• Place a free fraud alert. You contact one of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion), and that bureau must tell the other two. An initial alert lasts one year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
• Replace your driver’s license or ID through your state’s motor vehicle office.

5. Ask about crime victim compensation.

Every state runs victim assistance and compensation programs with help from federal Victims of Crime Act funds, according to the Office for Victims of Crime. Compensation can repay costs such as medical care, counseling and lost wages. You apply in the state where the crime happened.

In Louisiana, the Crime Victims Reparations program can pay up to $15,000, or up to $25,000 for a victim with a total and permanent disability. You must apply within a year of the crime unless there is a good reason you couldn’t. The program pays after other sources, such as insurance. Call (225) 342-1749. In Orleans Parish, the parish claim investigator is at (504) 202-9229.

6. Talk with a victim advocate.

Victim advocates help with police reports, court dates, compensation forms and finding counseling, at no cost. VictimConnect can connect you with one. Call or text 1-855-484-2846.

If you’re a student, your dean of students office can help with classes and housing while you recover. If the attack involved sexual violence or harassment, your school’s Title IX coordinator can explain the support available.

7. Give yourself time to recover.

Many people feel jumpy, sleep badly or replay what happened for a while afterward. If those feelings don’t ease, or they get in the way of work, school or sleep, talk to a counselor. Compensation programs can cover counseling. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.

Edge Orbital is developing a device for the walk home.

Edge Orbital, which publishes this site, is designing a small clip-on device that would use NowScape, its software in development, to show what’s moving near you on a walk home. The device still has to be built and tested. It would not have prevented what happened to you, and nothing in this guide depends on it.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article described Tripwire Recon, Edge Orbital’s iPhone app, as a safety tool. Tripwire Recon is a game and has no safety features.