In the past 5 years, nearly 41% of US people faced credit card scams and 50% consumers were involved in risky behavior. Some people discarded papers containing vital banking information, whereas others were found writing down their credit card PIN numbers. As per a recent study, these people have greater chances of getting victimized by credit card scammers.
As per the reports of ACI Worldwide and Aite Group . The top 3 countries with highest credit card fraud rate are - (a) United Arab Emirates, (b) China (c) United States and India.
Amongst the 4 countries, US is the last one to adopt microchip technology for credit card data storage. It has set a goal to replace magnetic stripe with microchip and migrate to the new system within October 2015.
Consumers are frustrated with the ever increasing identity-thefts, credit card frauds and data breaches. Their risky behaviors are partially blamed for that. As per a recent study, 50% of consumers who engaged in risky behaviors were victims of credit card fraud.
Consumers with risky behaviors are not the only ones who face credit card frauds. As per the study, 38% of consumers were duped by imposters even after handling credit cards responsibly.
7 Steps you can take to protect yourself against credit card fraud
Here are some steps you can take to lessen the chances of being a victim of credit card fraud.
1. Check the security of website while buying something online.
Before you buy something online, make sure you check the security of the website. Lots of websites don't have good internal control. Give your credit card number to a merchant who is credible.
2. Keep your smartphone locked when you're busy in some other work.
You're not using your smartphone 24*7. Keep your smartphone locked since it contains your vital information. Nearly 11% of US people keep smartphones unlocked and are vulnerable to identity-theft risks.
3. Don't keep your credit card in your wallet while traveling.
Most people have the habit of keeping credit cards in their wallet. This is risky since wallets can be tempered or stolen at any moment. Carry your credit cards in a business card holder. If you lose your wallet by any chance, you would at least save yourself from a severe financial damage.
Don't carry too many credit cards. Save the phone numbers of credit card companies so that you can contact them when your cards are stolen.
4. Never reveal your bank account details in emails or through phone.
Around 5% of the US people reveal vital bank information over phone and emails. This figure is only 2% less than that of Brazil. Avoid giving your bank account information over phone as the chances of getting scammed is very high.
Avoid giving your credit card number over phone unless you made the call. The financial institution will not ask your credit card number since they already have it.
5. Don't put your signature on a blank receipt as it is too risky.
No matter how much you love a person, don't put your signature on a blank paper. It would be too risky. Your loved one can write anything and transfer all your assets into his/her name. In case of a blank receipt, make sure you draw a line above the total amount.
6. Break your old credit cards properly after getting new ones.
Cut up your earlier cards through the magnetic strip and the numbers when you activate your new ones. Make sure you have damaged your old credit cards completely before throwing them into trash.
7. Scan the transactions you made and didn't make carefully.
Once you receive credit card statements, check out the transactions you made and didn't make. The faster you discover the transactions you didn't make, the sooner you can save yourself from a big loss. Contact the Account Manager of your credit card company and investigate the matter.
10 Startling facts about credit card fraud and identity-theft
- Thief can steal your identity from your non financial information shared in social networks.
- Thief can steal information from only a single piece of information about you.
- Your credit card information can be stolen from an ATM with odd look.
- Tourists are the easiest victims of identity thieves.
- It takes around 21 hours to resolve credit card fraud issues
- There were 13.1 million cases of identity-thefts in 2013
- Data breaches is one of main reasons behind identity-thefts
- Scammers are more tech-savvy than police.
- New account frauds are spreading like wildfire.
- It is getting touch to spot credit card scams.
Final impressions
Stats are scary. Who knows, scammers may fall in love with you anytime. You can be their target without having any knowledge about it. What you need to do is be pro-active and use credit monitoring services to get data breach notification. Once you receive such notification, take prompt action to get quick results.