How To Detect Fraudulent Credit Card Transactions
Posted November 21st, 2009
and last modified December 9th, 2009Fraudulent credit card transactions are not something to be scared of these days.
Visa, MasterCard and American Express all offer a zero-liability guarantee, meaning you won’t be responsible for a single cent should any fraudulent activity take place on your credit card. With any credit card without this guarantee, the most you can be held liable for is limited by law to $50.
However, it is not the ideal situation, and every step should be taken to keep the threat of it happening, and the damage caused once it starts taking place, to a minimum. Your credit card provider will not appreciate you informing them that strange transactions have been taking place on your account for two months.
Although credit card fraud can be a sophisticated crime, the measures to prevent it are fairly simple, and detecting it happening are even more straightforward.
- Don’t wait for your credit card statement to check if fraudulent credit card transactions have been made. You can access your account online whenever you want. Apart from fraud-monitoring, this is a good account-management tool so you can keep an eye on your spending. You should be able to account for all activity on your credit card. If you can’t, contact your provider and query it.
- Keep your receipts. These will date your purchases and show the amounts. Sometimes, the payee name on your statement might not match the name you expected. A retail purchase may be processed by the head office of a parent company whose name is not familiar to you. Without a receipt, you may assume this is not your purchase, but a receipt would easily verify the date and amount at least.
- If you spot anything amiss and suspect this to be a fraudulent credit card transaction, make your concerns known to your provider ASAP. You should also put this in writing, detailing all the relevant dates, names and amounts.
- Don’t assume that just because your credit card is in your possession, nothing is wrong. Credit card details can be skimmed and duplicate cards made up. Or your details may simply have been misappropriated by someone and used for fraudulent credit card transactions online.
- Despite the maximum $50 liability law, don’t relax. Fraudulent credit card transactions can be a sign of a larger problem, such as identity theft.
- As a general rule, check your credit history once a year, even if you think everything is running smoothly. You may discover that there are items in your report that are not related to you, or that should have been updated but haven’t been. You can check these via Veda Advantage and My Credit File.
Related posts:
- Fraudulent Credit Card use in Australia – How Bad is it?
- How To Identify A Fraudulent Credit Card
- Why Should I Avoid Cash Transactions On A 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card?
- Australian Credit Card Statistics: Payment Transactions Volume & Value
- How to Pick Fraudulent Bank Emails & Protect your Credit Cards
Show Comment Form
Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards
Bankwest Lite MasterCard
Cheapest Credit Card
The lowest stress mastercard, with Australia's lowest MasterCard purchase rate of just 9.99% p.a.
St George Vertigo
Best Bank
Low 2.99% for 6 months (reverts to 11.74%) p.a. interest rate and balance transfer rate, from one of Australia's most respected banks.
Citi Clear Platinum Visa
Low Interest
An excellent low interest credit card offer with 11.49%interest on purchases and 0.99% for 6 months on balance transfers .
ANZ Low Rate MasterCard
Balance Transfer
A very popular card choice with a low rate, annual fee and attractive 0% for 6 monthsbalance transfer offer.
Bankwest Zero Platinum MasterCard
No Annual Fee
Excellent introductory offer with a $0 annual fee for the life of the credit card and a 1.99% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers