Protect Your Credit Card Details From Cyber Criminals
Posted August 24th, 2010 and last modified May 26th, 2011How to protect your credit card details
You can protect your credit card details a lot just by being aware of the various scams that attempt to steal your information. A recent article in the Brisbane Times noted that cyber criminals are stealing an excess of $110 billion each year. These criminals use every trick they can to get your personal data or bank information to steal from you. Because they are so vigilant you too must be vigilant about protecting your finances.
Protect Your Credit Card Details By Avoiding These Scams
Trojans - The Trojan is software that is hidden in emails and sent to you. When you open the email or an attachment in it the Trojan downloads to your computer. It waits for you to log in to your bank account online and records keystrokes, sending them back to the hacker so they can access your accounts.
Worms – The worm is another form of software that you must protect your credit card details against. This software ‘worms’ its way on to your computer and then disables security and adds malicious software to it. The European government recently advised consumers to stop using Internet Explorer 6 because of the high risk of these kinds of worms.
Social Engineering – The name itself sounds high tech and scary, and it is just that. Hackers find their way to you through scams by looking like friends, charities, even banks and then get you to turn your money or personal data over to them willingly.
Virus - A virus infect the files that are stored on your personal computer. They can corrupt the data and software and permanently damage your computer. Viruses are also spread through email attachments or through Internet downloads.
Phishing – Phishing scams are fake emails that come from banks. They look a lot like real emails but require you to click a link in order to verify your personal information. They can also come in the form of a text message to your phone, called ‘smishing.’
The following credit card security tips will help you to take the right steps to keep your cards save.
See to it that you know where your credit cards are:
You need to keep your credit cards in a safe place all the time, except when you are going to use them. Never leave your credit cards on a restaurant or at a checkout counter. The frequency of your credit card use will also help you in protecting your credit card. The lesser times that you will be using it, the lesser chances that someone will steal your credit card information and use it for unauthorized spending.
You should not give your credit card to other people:
Once you give your credit card to other people; for example, the person whom you’ve loaned, then you won’t be able to know how these people are handling your credit card. In case you are authorizing another person for your credit card, they should have another card so that they won’t have to use yours.
Never write your PIN on your credit card:
If you write your PIN on your credit card, then you are more likely allowing thieves to withdraw your money with your credit card. Without the PIN, it is not possible for them to withdraw cash from your credit card. In general, PINs are created for security purposes, but if you leave your PIN exposed, then it will be risky as your credit card details can easily be accessed. If your wallet is stolen or you’ve lost your credit card, then you can immediately call the credit card company to deactivate your cards.
Have a copy of your credit card information:
You should always have a copy of your credit card information and it should not be placed in the same location as your credit cards. This will serve as your reference in case your wallet was stolen so that you can call each of the credit card companies and request for the deactivation of the lost cards.
If you are going to travel, consider credit card security:
You need to be more careful in your credit cards when you travel. Your credit card may be your primary financial source when you are away from home so you need to be very careful not to let those credit cards be stolen. It would also be advisable to keep your credit cards in separate locations so that you won’t have a bigger problem by losing all of your credit cards at once if something goes wrong.
Be careful when making online transactions using your credit card:
Before you make your credit card transactions, it would be better to make sure that the online retailer where you will be using your credit card is safe and secure. You need to make sure that the online retailer has a security site in their transactions form by checking on the address. There are identifiers such as a padlock icon and the address which states https:// (secure SSL) rather than plain http://.
Check your credit card statements often:
It would be better to have your credit card statements checked every month to see if there are unauthorised usages. If something seems unusual to you, then you should immediately report it to the credit card company. Through this, you will be able to prevent massive unauthorised charges on your credit card.
In reality, credit card fraud is happening and a lot of people have already been victimised. Keeping your credit card details safe from prying eyes is the best way to assure credit card security.
Protect yourself from loss, theft and identity crime
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