Avoid Identity Theft
It’s the most wonderful time of the year and, with all of the shopping and spending you will be doing, the last thing you need is to worry about credit card identity theft.
Credit card identity theft is when all or some of your credit card information is taken and used by one or several people to spend your money.
Jeff Redwine had his credit card identity stolen twice, and found out about it through his bank. They called to make sure the charges were fraud, canceled the card, and then reimbursed him.
“For the first time (the San Diego trip) I don’t know what was different about any of the times I used my Visa. “I really didn’t suspect anything at the time,” he stated.
On a second occasion he was suspicious of a small vendor that wrote down his credit card number in order to make the purchase.
He will never know for certain if that was what caused the theft, but Eric Maciel, a credit card counselor, suggests that if you are suspicious you should “contact the proper authorities so they can at least start investigating it because if you were able to avoid it, that doesn’t mean somebody else did.”
By being proactive and also reactive, you can limit the damage credit card identity can cause to your bank account. The two ways to do this are to change your spending habits and to know as soon as possible when someone is using your bank account.
The most common ways it could happen are:
-stolen credit card
-stolen mail from the garbage/trash
-putting a device in an ATM that scans the information
-fraud business emails from people posing as a company you trust such as an electric company
-an employee of a store writing down the number of the credit card
As for spending habits, it may seem like common sense, but there are just a few simple steps to take to protect yourself against crime.
The first thing to remember is that you are vulnerable while using your credit card.
Sometimes it is obvious where you should not be using your credit card–for example in a non-bank ATM or small vendor–but sometimes it isn’t so obvious. When you’re out shopping , the safest route may be to use cash whenever you can.
Simple and easy.
For the reactive way, Maciel advises to “check your credit card and banking statements every single month because if you don’t, it could be months or years before you notice [an out ordinary purchase].”
If there is one, contact your bank immediately to cancel the credit card.
Maciel also thinks that it is important not to stress out about it too much because of this “even if it does happen, credit card companies, banks will usually be more than glad to help you as a way to keep your business.”
10 easy tips for protecting yourself while shopping over the holidays:
1. Use cash whenever possible.
2. Carry credit cards only when necessary.
3. Keep credit and debit cards separate from the rest of your wallet.
4. Do not use ATMs from non-bank machines.
5. Check bank statements every month and make sure there are no ordinary purchases
6. Contact your bank immediately if there are any purchases you don’t recognize on your credit card.
7. Contact your bank and proper authorities if you see anything suspicious.
8. Know that, even if something were to happen, your bank will help you every step of the way–so don’t stress out.
9. Shred any mail that might have personal information.
10. Do not respond to mail or email that seems illegitimate, strange like it could be fraud.
