All -- it’s a good idea for your card(s) to be “stolen”, maybe once every year or two. And yes, it is definitely “stolen”, and not lost. Reps will definitely ask this. If it is lost (which it isn’t), the “thieves” may be able to continue to charge your card number.
That's like, to me, why can't my bank/credit card block charges from a merchant? (Or make you jump through repeated hoops to do so).
I've heard banks tell me "well, you signed a contract with them, so we need to let the charges go through", or the "for your convenience"...
No, my bank has a fiduciary duty to me. If blocking a charge causes me to get into conflict with the merchant, that's between the merchant and I - my bank shouldn't be taking any "side" (and if they do, it should be mine).
This is a cleansing process.