Keeping Your Credit Card Details Safe

The numbers of consumers that have been taken in by credit card scams have skyrocketed in the past decade, due mainly to online shopping and consumers divulging their credit card details to fraudulent persons. This can occur abroad as well as at home if you are not careful about where you shop. When you receive your credit card statement each month, you should go over it carefully to make sure that you have made the transactions listed and that there are none that you don’t recognize.

If you have a PIN or password with which you can access your credit card details online, this is something that you need to memorize and keep the written information regarding it in a safe place. You should never give out these details to anyone, no matter how much you trust this person. In fact, it is better that you destroy the information about your credit card when you receive it in the mail. Your credit card statements can also be a source of information to con artists. If it is not possible to burn the statements when you don’t need to keep them for your records, then you should tear them into tiny pieces before you put them in the trash.

Always make sure that the site you use for online shopping is secure. These sites will have a privacy statement assuring you that you won’t be endangering your credit card information by shopping on them. Some of the details of personal information that a fraudulent person can use if he/she does obtain your credit card number is your mother’s maiden name and the three digit number on the back of the card. These two pieces of information could open you up to fraud if you give them to the wrong person.

You should think carefully about giving out any personal information and your credit card number to any unsolicited calls. It is best to ask the caller for information so that you can return the call to confirm the details. In most cases, the caller will not do so and will often end the phone call. When you use your card over the phone, you should be very wary about how much information you provide. Some of the details fraudsters can use to gain access to your account include the three-digit code following your account number on the back of the card and your mother’s maiden name.

Be very careful when giving out your credit card information over the phone in response to solicitation phone calls. Some of these calls are fraudulent. When you receive a call offering some service or product and the caller wants your credit card information, the best course of action is to take the telephone number and call this person back. In this way, you can be sure it is from a legitimate company.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of people taken in by phishing scams delivered through email. If you get what seems to be an email from your bank or credit card company asking you to update your personal information, you should contact the bank or company first to verify that they did send the email.