Pennywise
Credit Card Safety
by: Sahil | last updated: November 09, 2009
Category: Standard Credit Cards | Tags: Credit card safety, credit cards, credit, safety, precautions
Category: Standard Credit Cards | Tags: Credit card safety, credit cards, credit, safety, precautions
Credit cards have become ubiquitous and it is almost impossible to make any purchases without using them. This is especially true if a person is buying a product or a service using the Internet. However, the most important factor that affects the credit of a person is safety while carrying out transactions on the Internet. Many people still hesitate to buy any products on the internet or through phone services because of safety reasons.
The best way to ensure that your credit card information is safe is to check the credit card statements and the credit report on a regular basis. A free credit report is available to citizens of United States on annualcreditreport.com and can be used in order to find out the credit score and history of a person. Credit card statements can provide the person with data about his or her past spending. This will help in determining whether there are any mistakes in the statement.
Any mistakes or discrepancies in the credit card statement should be taken seriously even though the amount involved may be small. This is because people committing credit card frauds will keep the information and use it at a later date so that there is no suspicion. Some fraudsters may even take over your identity if they have sensitive credit card information. In order to avoid all these scenarios it is important to keep in touch with the credit card companies as well as your debtors.
If you believe that there is a fraud being committed on your card then it is better to inform the credit bureaus about the same. This will enable them to put a fraud alert on your credit report and avoid any unauthorized activity on the account. Once a fraud alert is placed on the account then any creditor who wants to sell or approve a credit product has to contact the consumer first before making such approval.
The second step that needs to be taken if you suspect fraud is to change the credit card and get a new one. This is a very simple process and can be done over the phone by contacting the credit card agency. By simply changing the card the chances of getting defrauded become very minute. Furthermore taking these steps will ensure that you keep in touch with the credit bureaus as well as the credit card issuer.
Additional steps that can be taken to protect your credit card accounts are to set a password on the account and make the verification process a little stringent. Many credit card companies ask a couple of verification questions that may be easily guessed by a person committing fraud. To ensure that the verification is efficient it is possible to set a password of your choice by calling the customer service of the credit card company.
Although most credit card companies provide a zero liability service to the consumers it is still advisable to protect the account conscientiously. This means that even if you are proven to be a victim of credit fraud, the card issuer takes the responsibility of paying off the balance. A nominal amount of $50 needs to be paid if you are a citizen of United States. However, even the crooks are aware of this and may not use the credit card in a way that they will be caught. They may use it intermittently and avoid detection for a long time.
Further steps that can be taken in order to ensure credit card safety is not to share credit card numbers, keeping the credit cards in a safe place, never revealing or writing down the PIN number, ensuring safety while swapping the card, and making sure that you do not lend your card to anyone. Many merchants accept the credit card number even without the CVV (security code on the back) number for placing orders over the phone. So it becomes important to keep the credit card number as well as the CVV number safe with you.
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