Is Your Credit Card Safe,

Most people with a bank account and credit card will have, by now, had some experience of a scam, with the intention of stealing or cloning your credit card or details. If you haven't you are in the minority and should count yourself lucky! These days nothing is surprising, some people find that lump sums have been taken on their credit cards without them realising, and this can be done in a number of ways. A common phenomenon for credit card fraudsters is the use of cash machines to their advantage.

It is not uncommon for you to be taken for a fool completely unawares, these days there are warnings on cash machines about devices used by thieves but most of them are so good they are undetectable. Some are so extreme that a whole new front is applied to the cash point complete with a camera ready to record your PIN number. Make sure you check the cash point carefully when you are using it - some cameras can be the size of a needle!

And make sure you shield your pin number - without this, thieves can't get very far with your card details. But scams don't end there. If you have the internet and an email account then you may have experienced fake emails from your bank asking you to confirm your account details. You may even receive multiple emails from banks that you are not even a customer with!

Fraudsters really will try anything to get their hands on your cash! Some fraudsters go as far as to have the bare faced cheek to call and ask for your account details whilst pretending to be your bank or credit card provider. DO NOT give this information to anybody - your bank or credit card provider would not ask you to hand over this information on the phone! With so many scams around you would be forgiven for never trusting or talking to anyone, but living like that is no fun. Advice is to be extra vigilant about keeping your PIN and other personal details private.

There are many different choices out there in the online world, but not all of them stay up to date with current numbers. And when that happens, it puts your entire business at risk. Rather than trust in a cheap price but unproven service, it is important to first test the waters. Any service worth what it is asking for you to pay will provide a test drive option, where you can actually incorporate the product into your business transactions before making a financial commitment.

Reputable companies understand that there are choices out there, and that you are going to go with the one that best protects your business and your customers, not the one that saves a few pennies through an inferior platform. So make sure that you try several before making your decision. When you are in this grace period, you'll also want to make certain the product interfaces well with existing computer systems. As a general rule, the lookup system should conform to the existing infrastructure, not the other way around.

When you have finally committed to a platform, it is time to start committing to your customers, and the way that you can do this well is to include them in what you are doing. Make it common knowledge that your employees check photo IDs with every transaction, and your customers will conform and even thank you for valuing their privacy and their safety.

When you are faced with that case of credit card fraud, you will have confidence in dealing with the solution, and you will likely have less problems because most thieves tend to strike as a matter of convenience. If they know your business is well protected, they will simply move on to an easier target.

Either way, you win, as long as you are going with the right company. Using credit card BIN numbers wisely means finding the right balance with platform and existing technology. It means being forthright about your business practices with all customers. It means training your employees to be vigilant in fraud detection and prevention. When all of these blocks are in place, the fortification of your business will be complete, and your customers will feel safe shopping with you and recommending you.

We are faced with scams every day from emails trying to get vital banking, perconal, and credit card information to multi-level telemarketing scams. Since it can be difficult to stop this type of fraud, you need to know what to look for and how to protect yourself and your identity from thiefs. Every year, many people from all backgrounds are scammed millions of dollars in a variety of ways.

Some of the most common frauds, and those that you are least likely to recover your money from, have been carried out over the phone or by email. Email scams have also caused millions of dollars in losses to individuals and businesses across the world. Similar to telemarketing scams, con artists who run email scams are successful because, even though only a small percentage of people fall for them, they can reach hundreds of thousands of inboxes for little to no money. Luckily, there are ways to avoid being taken advantage by telemarketing and email scams.

By learning about and understanding how many common scams operate and by practicing diligence when responding to emails and phone calls, you can reduce your chances of being taken advantage of. One common telemarketing fraud call involves an operator posing as being from your bank or credit card company and offering you credit card debt refinancing service, an opportunity to raise your credit limit, or other financial services.

This scam might sound easy to identify, but many scam operations make them believable by making use of professional sounding telephone representatives, falsified company information, or by making use of actual information about a real bank or credit card company. These calls can sound believable if the perpetrators use your actual financial information.

Fraud perpetrators frequently steal personal financial information from mailboxes and household trashcans, but they can also gain access to your online banking by phishing emails. One of the best ways to make sure you do not fall prey to this kind of fraud is to do business only with companies you are familiar with and have done business with in the past. It is usually a bad idea to consider an unsolicited service from a person or company you do not know or cannot confirm the identity of, especially if they call you.