There are many fraudsters all over the place sending fraudulent emails to phish for bank, Paypal and credit card details. As long as you don't key in personal financial information in this unsolicited emails, you are safe. But many unsuspecting people, thinking that the bank need to verify passwords that are lost in the database or some other valid excuse, inadvertently entered their personal information and their banking details are compromised. Same too with credit card fraud. People steal your information and use it to make big purchases that are unauthorized. Millions of dollars were lost due to this credit card fraud and the tricksters coming up with better and innovative ideas to steal your credit card data.
Micro Chip to Protect your Card
Nowadays, the credit card comes with a smart micro chip inserted for further protection. This will make duplication more difficult compare with credit cards without the micro chip. By introducing the use of micro chip, credit card fraud has been marginally reduced to a great extent. This is because it requires high use of technology to create a micro chip that is inserted into the credit card. Not any ordinary fraudster has the technical knowledge in this area. It has been reported that some countries that still did not use the micro chip together with the credit card have high incidences of fraud and credit card duplication with unauthorized use.
Never give out your details online from an email
When you receive an email that is uncalled for, never give out your internet banking and credit card details to such web sites. By all means, you should key in the web address in the browser and never click on any links from unsolicited emails. And when you make purchases online, make sure the merchant or seller is reputable like eBay or Amazon and not some unknown small company. That's because some web sites have been set up to look like a genuine web page selling tangible products but the real intension is to steal your credit card information through the internet. So be extra alert when attempting to make online purchases in any web site. It is quite troublesome to have your credit card cancelled and you need to wait to apply for a new one in the process.
Don't give your credit card details to anyone
By all means, keep your credit card safely and securely in your purse or wallet away from prying eyes. If you share a room with a room mate while traveling and you need to bathe, bring your wallet together with you while you are bathing. This will prevent your room mate whom you don't know well from checking your wallet in your absence. And don't share your personal details freely to any medium like the internet or strangers. Write down your password somewhere else or encrypt the password with extra digits in your wallet so that in case it gets stolen, the thief cannot decode and use your password to withdraw money from the automated teller machine. Do you know that your credit card can be used like an atm card when you travel overseas? If you are short of hard cash, you can use the foreign atm to withdraw some money and therefore it is pertinent you encrypt the password or just remember it in your head.
Never use easy to remember details like birth date as your password
When you choose a password for your credit card, never use easy to remember information like your birthday, you address or contact information. Your close friends who know you too well might one day use such information to steal money from you using your credit card. In a nutshell, for credit card fraud protection, always be alert and never use personal information as your password.
