Best Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

Best Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud - The credit card has become one of the most important things in modern time. We can use a credit card to do online shopping, buy games or even use it for payments at local stores. The main reason people love credit card is because of their security features. It is easy to lose your hard cash. Thus, people have carried credit cards instead of hard cash. In case your credit card gets stolen, you can directly get it blocked from your provider. After that, no on one can use your credit card.

Best Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

But, the real threat to these credit cards is hackers. They can steal your credit card information and use them for shopping online. Also, it is easy to credit card frauds. Thus, it is important for you to learn about how to safeguard your credit card details. Here, we will tell you simple tips to keep your credit card details safe.

1. Keep Your Credit Cards Safe

First, you must keep your credit cards safe from thieves. Make sure that your credit card is in your wallet or purse. Your credit card must be close to your body. Hence, it will be difficult for a thief to steal it.

Many thieves take pictures of your credit card information. Hence, you shouldn’t leave your credit card exposed until it is necessary. It is easy to use these credit cards online. Thus, you must make sure that no one is taking pictures of your credit cards.

If you’re shopping in a mall or a market, then carry a tiny purse. This will make it harder for thieves to steal a credit card from you. Also, there is no need to carry all your credit cards with you. Try to carry only those credit cards which you need. After doing any payment in offline market, put your credit card back in your wallet.

2. Shred Your Outdated Credit Cards and Paper Statements

Don’t throw your credit card billing statements in the dustbin. They have full information of your credit card. Thus, anyone can use it for online purchases. You must rip those statements in pieces. You can also throw these shredded pieces in different dustbins or trash bags. Thus, it will become impossible for anyone to put those pieces together.

When a credit card is outdated, shred it. There is chance your new card will have exactly the same information except the expiration date. Some banks do that. If scammers have hands on your old credit card, they may be able to brute force their way to the new one by just guessing the future expiration date. You know, that is, within 5 years with far few months in between.

3. Avoid Signing Suspicious Receipts

You may have less doubt receiving a receipt from sale clerk from a big convenience store like Walmart, Costco, Walgreen, Target… But if it comes from a small shop out of nowhere, have a doubt. Look of the receipt. Look for the store name, the amount breakdown: subtotal, tax, total. If you see blank spaces on the receipt. Fill them out with the amounts, even $0s if need be. Ask the sale clerk about any doubt of the fields on it. You can use your phone to take a picture of the receipt before handing it off over to the clerk. Just in case of mishap, you would have the evidence. The risk would be

1. Bad people would erase and change the numbers on the receipt
2. They would fill in some random larger amounts on it before submitting it to a card processor to steal your money

4. Never Give Your Credit Card Information to Stranger

The strangers can easily use your credit card online. Hence, many scammers try to get your credit card information by doing fake calls. After getting your information, they either use it or sell it to hackers. Thus, you must never share your credit card details on call. Many scammers act as the bank customer care service. Hence, you must pay extra caution to such calls. Don’t share your credit card information until you verify the guy who is calling you.

Credit card thieves and scammers are using phone calls to steal other user’s credit card details. They pose as bank employees or credit card issuers to trick credit card users into giving out their credit card details.

5. Pay Extra Caution Using Your Credit Card Online

Many websites sell your credit card details to hackers. Thus, you must only enter your credit card details on those websites which are 100% legitimate. If you have a doubt about any website payment gateway, then it is better to skip it. You can find other websites which are offering several services. Also, you can check the address bar of your browser to check the website legitimacy. If the URL contains https:// in the starting, then that website is legit and approved.

Also, don’t click on any email links which redirects you to the credit card company or bank page. Many hackers create similar looking pages to fool people. You think you are logging into your bank account, but you are giving your sensitive information to hackers. They can use this information to shop online or sell them online to other hackers. If you receive an Email from the bank, then use Google to visit their website. There is no need to use the link in the Email. You can directly visit the official website of your credit card issuer without clicking on the phishing emails.

6. Report Your Stolen or Lost Credit Cards to the Issuer ASAP

You must report to the bank about your missing credit card to prevent any losses. It would be difficult for you to get your money back, once your credit card has been used. Thus, the sooner you will report, the more chances you will have of preventing any fraud transactions. Make sure you have saved your credit card’s customer care number in your mobile. You can call them in an emergency and get your credit card blocked.

7. Review Your Billing Statements Frequently

For some reasons, your credit card information was stolen. These people would use such information to make a purchase. Those fraudulent transactions would show up on your statement. The sooner you catch them, the better chances you have to recover them. Typically, when opening a credit card, you should be able to have the paper statement mailed to you home. You could have the paperless statement emailed to you. Also, almost every bank has online account management system for you to login to review your credit card transactions. The online system could be a web portal or phone app for you to use. Have a habit of spending 5 minutes to log in your account checking over your transactions at least once a week. If you can, set up SMS text notifications for excessive or suspicious transactions. Notify the card issuer right away if you see any fraudulent activities. On such event, the banker would help you establish a new card with the new information, recover all the losses if possible, and prevent such future problems.

Many people don’t review their billing statements in the month end. Unauthorized transactions or charges are early credit card theft. If you notice unfamiliar activity in your billing statement, then you must report to your bank or credit card issuer.These were all the points which you must keep in your mind while using your credit card. They can easily replace your old credit card with a new credit card. It is difficult to misuse a credit card. Hence, the credit card is preferred over cash. But still you must pay caution while using it.

8. Make Strong Passwords and Never Share Them

Many people save their credit card information on online e-commerce websites. For example, you may have saved your credit card details on E-bay for fast transactions. Make sure you are using strong passwords to protect your E-bay account. A strong password contains a combination of uppercase characters, lower-case characters, symbols, and numbers. Also, you must never the password of your e-commerce websites accounts with others. Better yet? Change them periodically. Use some online app to generate strong passwords. This is a good password generator. Write it down somewhere so you don't lose them.

Some banks allow 2 step verification to log in your account. You can choose a combination of password and mobile code in text, or password and QR Code scan. Enable that if your card issuer has it. It is like almost 100% secure because the 2 factors securing your account

9 . Watch out for Credit Card Sniffers & Skimmers

Credit card thieves use 2 types of devices.

At an ATM or gas station in the open, they embed a credit card skimmer or credit card sniffer into the ATM machine or the gas payment system. These devices would sniff out your credit card information. Then they either programmed the machine to send the information to their remote devices. Or they would return to the scene when there are fewer people to retrieve the device with users’ credit card information.

In the enclosed area with an ATM or a credit card processing machine, they would place a small camera to capture your credit card information once you pull it out of your wallet for the payment. It depends on the angle of the camera. They can not see them all but should be able to capture quite a few cards.

In these cases, if you see something off about the payment machine, inform the sale clerk immediately, hoping the clerk is not one of the perpetrators. Better yet, inform the authority of the act to avoid confronting the bad guys on your own. Run off to somewhere after reporting to the authority so you will not be caught in the crossfire later.