What You Can Do About the Credit Fraud

Cybercrimes especially phishing, identity theft and other fraudulent transactions are becoming more prevalent each year. The massive data transfer and Internet contributed in making such crimes easier. The best protection you can get from these unfortunate occurrences is by avoiding them in the first place.

Like any problems, there are solutions to combating fraud online. You must be diligent in learning the measures, keen enough to spot whether preventive measures are indeed genuine, and vigilant about each of your financial transactions made using the Internet. True, the Internet makes life easier. You can do almost all sorts of your shopping using the Internet. The payments are made commonly through debit and credit cards. And by using them, you will provide for personal information like your complete name, home address, contact numbers, and account numbers.

If you are careful, it will only take a few seconds for cyber criminals to get hold of your personal information and use it against your bank accounts. An ugly consequence is that it will reflect on your credit reports. Of course, when cyber criminals obtain a loan using your name and account, there would not be any payment made. In the first place, you have no knowledge about the existence of fraudulent transactions.

So how do you protect yourself?

Prevention is the Best Approach

Whenever you go online to do some shopping, the payment page of the web site will require personal information such as those mentioned earlier. It will be wise if, after completing every transaction, you clear out the data from every field. Sometimes, the web sites offer convenience by remembering the data given by enabling auto-fill. There is no harm in disabling this feature or tool so long as you do not forget to clear out your cache, browsing history, and on.

If you have applied for a new credit line in another credit card company and you just have your card delivered to you, open the envelope at once and do what is asked of you from the letter that comes with it. Generally, you have to register the cards. If you are replacing old cards, dispose of the old cards properly by cutting them into halves.

When you are abroad, it is wise to inform your credit card providers so they will not immobilize your accounts. Fraud and other cyber crimes are more common when the principal account holders leave the country. They will not have any awareness about the illegal use of their credit cards until they have returned.

In going out, do some efforts in keeping your credit cards in different places. As much as possible, bring only the cards you will use. There are pickpockets who will not hesitate to be in possession of your wallets. Besides the cash, they fancy your credit cards.

Immediate Action

There are times, however, that no matter how careful we can be, we are careless or unmindful about the preventive measures for a few seconds. In case your wallet along with your credit cards are stolen, be prompt in filing a report about it and in sending a notice to all your credit card providers so they can cancel the cards instantly, otherwise, the criminals may have a good time tarnishing your credit reputation.