Protecting Against Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud takes place every day in a variety of ways. You can’t always prevent it from happening, but you can create some obstacles and make it tougher for someone to get hold of your cards and card numbers. Treating your credit cards and account numbers like cash — that is, very carefully — is one way to head off potential misuse.

How Does Credit Card Fraud Happen, What Can You Do, How Does Credit Card Fraud Happen, Theft, the most obvious form of credit card fraud, can happen in a variety of ways, from low tech dumpster diving to high tech hacking. A thief might go through the trash to find discarded billing statements and then use your account information to buy things.

A retail or bank website might get hacked, and your card number could be stolen and shared. Perhaps a dishonest clerk or waiter takes a photo of your credit card and uses your account to buy items or create another account. Or maybe you get a call offering a free trip or discounted travel package.

But to be eligible, you have to join a club and give your account number, say, to guarantee your place. The next thing you know, charges you didn’t make are on your bill, and the trip promoters who called you are nowhere to be found. What Can You Do, Incorporating a few practices into your daily routine can help keep your cards and account numbers safe. For example, keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates and the phone number to report fraud for each company in a secure place.

Don’t lend your card to anyone — even your kids or roommates — and don’t leave your cards, receipts, or statements around your home or office. When you no longer need them, shred them before throwing them away. Don’t give your account number to anyone on the phone unless you’ve made the call to a company you know to be reputable.

If you’ve never done business with them before, do an online search first for reviews or complaints. Carry your cards separately from your wallet. It can minimize your losses if someone steals your wallet or purse. And carry only the card you need for that outing. During a transaction, keep your eye on your card.

Make sure you get it back before you walk away. Never sign a blank receipt. Draw a line through any blank spaces above the total. Save your receipts to compare with your statement. Open your bills promptly — or check them online often — and reconcile them with the purchases you’ve made.

Report any questionable charges to the card issuer. Notify your card issuer if your address changes or if you will be traveling. Don’t write your account number on the outside of an envelope. Call the card issuer as soon as you realize your card has been lost or stolen. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24 hour service to deal with this.

Identity theft is very dangerous, especially for those who are responsible for securing other people's sensitive information. If this type of information is stolen, several lives could be greatly affected by identity theft. This is especially true of children, since child identity theft occurs frequently. It is a crime committed by unknown thieves, relatives, friends, or even by a child's own parents.

Children are especially vulnerable to identity theft because they don't have credit histories at all. Creditors prefer a person without any credit history than deal with a person that has bad credit history. Their identities are targeted because thieves could use their identities a few days after their birth until they reach 18 years old.

The elderly are also exposed to identity theft. Their loved ones or primary caregivers may be the ones to steal their identities for financial gain. Old people don't report such things because they're afraid that their families will commit them in an institution. Being able to protect your identity will keep you from losing your good credit line or your bank account. You can do this by acquiring a credit protection service.

This service will send you alerts if there are sudden changes in your credit card account. The prompt alerts will enable you to place a security freeze in your credit files so that they could not be tampered with again. A fraud alert could also be activated so that new credit applications in your name may be slowed down. The alerts that you receive from your credit protection provider will help you stop the identity thief from stealing more from you.

If you have effectively protected your child's identity early on, then there won't be any problems for them during the college years. He would immediately be approved for student loans and student credit cards. There will always be emergencies when you have a medical condition. When protection against identity theft is performed efficiently, you won't have to worry about not being covered for your medical needs. Protection from identity fraud will surely help you maintain financial credibility. It's an ongoing war against id fraud and you need to make sure that you and your family are on the winning side.



E-commerce sites need to have high levels of security and fraud prevention while still providing a positive customer experience. This becomes increasingly important when customers are buying digital gift cards or expensive items that may ship immediately. Businesses must learn how to prevent fraud and put systems in place to protect the company from losing profits by providing safe and effective tools to decrease loss and increase customer safety.