Securing Your Finances: Strategies to Combat the Enduring Challenge of Credit Card Fraud

Companies like Visa and Mastercard, as well as credit card issuers, continue to invest in strategies to identify and reject these kinds of transactions before they become a problem.

They are still dealing with the effects of a fraud boom brought on by the pandemic that prompted people who would ordinarily shop in person to shop online.

In 2022, nearly 40,000 Americans — a 23 percent increase from the previous year — reported a case of credit card theft involving active accounts to the Federal Trade Commission.

You still need to exercise caution since, regrettably, credit card fraud is still very much a problem.

Here are some tips for protecting yourself from scammers and what the firms who issue your credit and debit cards are doing to assist.

For instance, stay cautious from websites that claim selling name-brand products at a substantial discount. Discounts that look too good to be true usually drive buyers to dishonest merchants who try to steal their clients’ financial information.

The most common method by which consumers are duped into falling for financial frauds is through phishing attacks, in which cards receive emails, SMS, or even WhatsApp messages requesting an urgent answer.

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Protecting Your Accounts from Unauthorized Charges

Sometimes simply clicking a link is sufficient since it takes you to a dubious website that tries to infect your computer with malware. Rather, stay away from links in emails from sources that seem strange.

If one of your accounts is charged, credit card providers and banks can notify you via an app, email, or text message. By activating them, you’ll receive an almost immediate alert if a transaction—shady or otherwise—occurs, allowing you to rapidly get in touch with your provider when something odd occurs. 

Most likely, asking someone to stop all online buying is unreasonable. Alternatively, you can utilize technologies to restrict who can see your credit card information.

When using a “virtual” account number to make an online purchase, some credit card issuers, like Capital One and Citi, restrict the actual account number from being disclosed.

Next, think about informing organizations like the Federal Trade Commission about incidents of credit card theft. Yeah, it takes a lot of time, and yes, you are busy. Yet, bringing these issues up helps our policymakers and the sector have a better understanding of how widespread a problem fraud is.

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Source: MSN