The statistics of the number of people who fall victim to credit card fraud are shocking. Literally millions of people each year, from all walks of life have filed reports of credit card fraud annually.
Something that had almost happened to me if I didn’t catch it the minute it happened. I received a warning from my bank that some suspicious activity had occurred at 4 am with my card, and thankfully the entire situation was wrapped up within 2 days. I was extremely lucky to have been notified on time; however, this isn’t always the case. Stopping credit card fraud can be simple when you are careful in your actions.
What you should look out for
There are many little things that you can do in order to firstly protect yourself from credit card fraud and secondly be ready to spot the signs if you are unlucky enough to fall victim to fraud.
- Keep your card safe: First and foremost you must be very careful in how you use your credit cards. There is a number of ways that fraudsters can get a hold of your details and 9 out of 10 times, it’s due to your own negligence. When you use your card online, make sure to only make payments through authorized payment platforms, and under no circumstance should you send your details via email or messaging. The person you are sending the details to might be reliable, however, if someone were to hack either your account or theirs, the hacker would find your details ready to take.
- Keep it away from the internet: Secondly, do not save your card details anywhere on your PC or on any mobile device that connects to the internet. If your device is hacked, again they will find your personal information as well as your credit card details. This is a particularly dangerous mix, as fraudsters can use these details to not only rack up a huge bill for you on your existing card but issue new cards and loans, using your information.
- Keep tabs: Know when and where you have used your card, and if you use your cards often, check these details daily. Using a monitoring program will help keep things clear and in order. Finding even a small discrepancy in your charges could mean that you have had your details stolen and the fraudsters are testing the account. Learn to look out for the small signs that could potentially turn into bigger problems.
Stopping Credit card Fraud before you loss big time
Catching fraudsters early in the act could mean that you will avoid big problems that may occur due to the amounting bills. You don’t want to find out that your cards have been maxed out and new debt added to your name, a week or two after the actual event has occurred.
- If fraud does occur, you need to report it immediately, both to the bank and the police.
- Fraud might have happened due to your devices being hacked, so please ensure that you scan your PC and mobile devices before changing all passports and upping security measures.
- Scan your emails and social media for any unauthorized loggings or any messages that might have been sent without your knowledge