In this age of rampant identity theft,credit card fraud is becoming more and more prevalent. Identity thieves can get access to your credit card information in a variety of high-tech ways. You can help to safeguard your information by following some easy and sensible guidelines.
The Do's:
- Get a post office box and have all of your financial documents – including credit card bills – mailed to that address. This will prevent would-be identity thieves from stealing credit cards out of your unsecured mailbox.
- Shred all credit card applications and financial documents containing personal information with a cross-cut shredder before you throw them away to prevent thieves from using your trash to perpetrate fraud.
- Maintain an up-to-date list of all of your credit cards by account number, expiration date, and issuer contact information, and store it in a secure location. If your cards are stolen, it'll be that much easier to report the theft to each card issuer.
- Open your credit card bills promptly and reconcile them with your receipts as you do your checking account. Report any inconsistencies as soon as possible to the card issuer.
- If you move, use your list of credit card issuers to notify them. Even if you have a post office box, your card issuers should know your new physical address for security purposes.
- Do your best to use one credit card exclusively for internet transactions to keep track of them more easily. Better yet, consider using a secure-payment system such as PayPal. That way only one site will have your credit card and personal information.
- Keep track of your credit card each time you use it. If at all possible, don't let it out of your sight. If they do take it (such as in a restaurant), be sure that it's returned promptly.
- Get and secure all carbon copies of your receipts. Don't leave any credit card receipts lying around.
- Mark through all blank lines you don't use on a credit card receipt and never, ever sign a blank receipt.
- Cover your credit card so that others can't surreptitiously capture your information on the card via camera or memory. (The best personal information thieves can memorize everything on an exposed card in as little as a few seconds!)
…and the Don'ts:
- DON'T write your credit card number where it can be seen or read through an envelope.
- DON'T carry around credit cards that you use only occasionally.
- DON'T loan your credit cards to anyone else.
- DON'T give your credit card number or other information over the phone unless you initiate the phone call. Reputable companies do not call and ask for financial information.
- DON'T answer emails that ask for your credit card number, and DON'T use a website link contained in an email to "verify" your financial information, even if it looks like a real site. Such emails and websites are probablyphishing; in other words, they mimic a trustworthy institution's real site to trick you into giving them your personal information.
- DON'T enter your personal information on a website that isn't secure. Look for a small padlock icon in the bottom right corner of your browser; if the padlock is open, the site is not secure. Also, check your internet address bar. Secure sites will begin with "https://" with the "s" meaning 'secure.' (Standard sites begin with "http://". These are unsecure sites.)
- DON'T keep your credit cards and PIN numbers together. If you keep a list of PINs, don't label it.
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