Ways to Prevent Credit Card, Check Card, and Debit Card Identity Theft
Perhaps the most common of identity thefts is the credit card identity theft. This is when someone steals your credit card, check card, or debit card numbers and places charges on them posing as you. It’s a little bit different from the kind of identity theft where people can actually apply for new credit cards. This type of Identity theft is where they are just using your existing card’s information to make charges.
This type of identity theft can be prevented or at least caught earlier with a couple precautions. The first precaution is to make sure you keep an eye on your cards. Oh course if someone steals your wallet or purse and can assume they are going to try and steal money from your accounts or charge stuff to your credit cards. However, most people don’t know that people can steal your credit card number without stealing your card. When you hand your card to someone for processing make sure they don’t swipe your card into a skimmer, a handheld card scanning device that could be held in your hand, attached to a belt or ankle or other parts of their body. This of course will only work if you can see them when they run your card. Employees that process the card away from the counter can’t watched for this type of scam.
The next tip is a simple one but so many people don’t do it. You should always shield your pin from view when typing it in. Shoulder surfing is a technique where people look over your shoulder to see your pin. Sometimes it’s a simple as someone peaking over your shoulder, but people have been known to record your pin using video cameras and fake keypads among other things. A skimmer attached to the ATM completes the scam and they have everything they need to steal from your account.
Just like a password you should change your card number every so often. You can request a new card number from your bank however often as you like. It is time consuming because you have to change all your online accounts to the new number but this will cut all ties to any exposed card numbers.
Something I have been enjoying is alerts from credit card and check card accounts. Some banks like Bank of America have alerts that will send text messages informing you of what is happening to your account. My accounts inform me of any large purchases, unusual purchases, and low account balances. These alerts are often in real time and will help you catch fraudulent charges. You have to report fraudulent charges within 30 days at most banks and 60 days for most credit cards. So knowing a charge is fraudulent sooner is better than knowing about much later.
Identity theft protection is always a good idea. My favorite identity theft protection company is LifeLock above all other services. They have proven themselves to the be leader in identity theft protection. There is no one I would trust more than LifeLock with my credit. Not all identity thefts can be prevented, but what can be prevented LifeLock will be there to protect you.
Tags: identity theft, identity theft protection, Life Lock, LifeLock, LifeLock identity theft protection