Credit Card Fraud – How To Stay Safe

Any one who has fallen victim to credit card fraud will tell you how upsetting and inconvenient it is. Not only do your cards need to be cancelled and reissued, your card provider’s makes a full investigation into the fraud and sometimes you can end up severely out of pocket.

A big part of personal finance is about protecting your money and although this guide is not exclusive, following a few steps should help keep you safe from those malicious fraudsters.

• Always keep your cards in a safe place that only you know about and is not on show. When carrying your cards outside the home, only take the cards you will need, make sure they are in a purse or wallet and are not easy to snatch, or on show so that thieves can copy your cards details from afar.
• If paying for something in public, ie. a shop, restaurant or bar, make sure the payment terminal looks normal, check the amount on the screen, always cover your pin and don’t let the card out of our sight. Card cloning is common and employees copy card details then sell your details on.
• For online payments make sure you have entered a sites address directly and not entered through a search engine link or email. Fraudsters now send millions of emails a day from what seems like your bank asking you to verify your information by clicking on a link and entering your details. NEVER do this – your bank or credit card provider will never ask you for these details and you will almost certainly be informed in postal writing with any issues on your account. For online shopping sites most will be verified and have a padlock icon or the url https:// in the browser bar.
• Always destroy post with personal information. It is not simply enough to rip a bank statement or letter in half as fraudsters can easily put these back together. It is a good idea to invest in a shredder and shred any post but if this is not possible, always rip anything containing personal information into tiny pieces before throwing away. Old cards should also be cut up into as many pieces as possible before disposing of.
• Never give your personal details out over the phone. Your bank will never ask for your card details they will ask you the security question set up with your account. If you are unsure of the authenticity of a phone call ask for a number to call back and visit your bank’s website. All their numbers SHOULD be listed on their site – ring one of these back and they will put you through to the right department if they do need to speak to you! Under no circumstances should you give out or confirm any card information.You should always review your statements for transactions you do not recognize and always report your lost or stolen cards immediately.

This is a guest post from the Robert Fox,at Money-Fox.com a blog aimed at helping people to get your finances straight.