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 details of their credit cards 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
When shopping online you have to make sure that the site you use is secure. Such sites are usually denoted by https. This means that when you enter your information the software on the site encrypts the data so that others using the server on the page cannot gain access to your private information. It is also important that when you do enter your credit card information online that you do so on your own computer rather than one that is shared among many users. You should also clear your browser cache from time to time to ensure that someone else cannot see what pages you accessed and try to gain access to your credit card in this way
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.
Only use secure sites when you shop online using your credit card. There are many sites that do not have proper security and your credit card information could become part of the public domain. Before you enter your number to check out with your purchases, check the security and the privacy policy of the site. Some sites, while being secure, so sell or give your information to other sites and this can lead to disaster for your finances
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
The same thing applies to an email that claims to come from the HM Revenue and Customs. UK residents have received such emails telling them that their tax returns have been reviewed and that they are entitled to an additional refund that will be paid to their credit card account. The government will never contact you in this manner and will only do so in writing. Disregard such emails and delete them from your computer