How to Avoid Credit Card Fraud: discover now

Day by day things get more and more expensive, and lately we have developed a new concern on protecting our money, and one of the strategies to this is discovering how to avoid credit card fraud.

So today we will understand more about the harms of credit card fraud and how to avoid and protect your earned money.

What is credit card fraud and how to avoid it?

Credit card fraud is a term used to include every type of unauthorized and illegal use of someone else’s credit card information to gain something with this or to use their money.

It involves various activities where individuals or criminal organizations obtain, use, or attempt to use credit card details fraudulently, often resulting in financial losses for the legitimate cardholder and financial institutions.

Also there’s a lot of forms of credit card fraud, criminals can make this with stolen cards, lost cards, phishing, hacking, skimming and much more.

Phishing has become really popular among the criminals, they use deceptive e-mails, messages or fake websites to trick individuals into providing personal information on their credit cards.

Skimming has also been very popular lately and it happens when devices called skimmers are used to capture your credit card information from the magnetic stripe on them, usually at ATMs or in a point of sale.

Malware is another type of form to trick individuals into a credit card fraud type of crime, they are malicious softwares installed on your device, they usually are hidden through websites or other downloads.

Tips on how to avoid credit card fraud

Now that we are aware of the dangers of credit card frauds and some of the ways this can happen on a daily basis, we need to know how to avoid credit card fraud, to protect our personal information and our resources.

1 – Monitor your accounts

The first and easier tip on how to avoid credit card fraud is to maintain a close eye on your accounts. 

Every suspicious transaction must be reported to your credit card issuer, and if you saw an attempt or a purchase that you don’t recognize, ask for a new credit card with new information.

Another tip is to set up account alerts to notify you of large transactions or of every transaction done on your credit card. This option usually can be found on configurations or notifications.

2 – Keep your physical cards secure

We already saw that one form of credit card fraud is through stolen or lost credit cards, so one of the ways you can avoid credit card fraud is keeping the physical cards in a secure storage.

Avoiding leaving your cards unattended in public spaces, they are more likely to get stolen this way.

Also another way on how to avoid credit card fraud and even from other cards, you need to memorize your PIN, don’t write it down.

3 – Be aware of phishing and skimming

We already know what is phishing and skimming, but how to not fall into this kind of situation, you may ask.

Always be suspicious of offers that seem too good to be true, or unsolicited emails, phone calls, text messages or even DM’s on your Instagram.

This is a common way people use to steal your credit card information through phishing.

And whenever you are at an ATM, pay extra attention to the credit card reader and the people around you.

4 – Be cautious accessing websites for online purchases

The Internet can make everything easier, but can make it more dangerous too. That’s why you need to be cautious and pay attention when accessing a website.

Especially if you are intending to buy something on that site or need to share your personal information on the website.

You can always check to see if the website is secure or not, usually when they have a lock symbol before the URL or the address website starts with “https” this means they have a SSL certificate that encrypts your information.

5 – Two step authentication

The two step authentication has become more and more common, and it’s also a safety measure if you want to understand how to avoid credit card fraud.

Activate the 2FA on your dispositives, bank accounts and every type of login you have, this adds an extra layer of protection.

It’s common that the 2FA will ask you to verify your identity by cell phone number, or an e-mail, but it can also be a very specific question that only you could know the answer to.

By being proactive and vigilant, you can discover and understand how to avoid credit card fraud and enhance the security of your financial transactions. Don’t gatekeep this information, share with your friends and other people who must be careful.

Daniel 29 de April de 2024