Credit Card Fraud
Credit card fraud is the theft of a credit card or account number(s) with the intent to make unauthorized charges to the account in question. Although consumers are legally protected from credit card fraud financially, it's still possible other creditors will notice this activity and based on this information arbitrarily make the decision to raise your interest rates or deny your loan application. By simply ordering and reviewing a copy of your credit report periodically, you'll be able to discover credit card fraud on credit accounts you don't use frequently. Credit card fraud is significant with more than $2 billion in fraudulent charges each year, but the majority of consumers don't seem to be overly concerned about credit card fraud. If unauthorized charges appear on your bill, or if your credit card is misplaced, lost or stolen, all you have to do is contact the credit card company and alert them to be aware of possible credit card fraud. Getting the situation under control generally doesn't take much time, and it shouldn't cost you a dime. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express eat the losses of credit card fraud, not you. Of course, ultimately everyone pays for credit card fraud in the form of higher interest rates. But, assuming you review your statements periodically, you won't be affected by credit card fraud. Right? You couldn't be more wrong! Two forms of credit card fraud can hit individuals very hard. The first is debit card theft, which directly impacts your personal bank account as opposed to the deep pockets of Visa or MasterCard. The second and more serious type of credit card fraud is identity theft. A fraudster assumes your identity at least for credit purposes and starts running up bills in your name. The spending spree could last for weeks, years or even decades if you don't monitor your credit accounts. Both credit-granting institutions and the credit bureaus need to improve verification systems to help prevent identity theft, but there's little chance of anything meaningful being done to make it harder for anyone to get credit and commit credit card fraud so you need to look out for yourself and do the following: 1. Avoid signing a blank charge slip. That's like signing a blank check. 2. Avoid giving your credit card number in public. Someone could be listening and use the information to commit credit card fraud. 3. Don't give credit card numbers over the phone. Listeners can steal your credit card number and commit credit card fraud. 4. Make a list or photocopy all of your credit cards. This way if you are victim of credit card fraud, you'll have the information handy. 5. Ask stores at which you are applying for credit how they safeguard credit applications to prevent credit card fraud. 6. Ask businesses how they store and dispose of credit card transactions to prevent credit card fraud. 7. Sign your credit cards in permanent ink as soon as you obtain them. 8. Carefully examine each credit card statement to verify each transaction. You may uncover credit card fraud early by identifying fraudulent transactions. 9. Cancel unused credit cards so they don't appear on your credit report. It's one less account thieves can use to commit credit card fraud. |
