Simple techniques to prevent holiday Identity theft
Christmas is fast approaching and everyone is going out spending, albeit for Christmas shopping and of course travels during the holidays and other types of indulgences. Often times we find ourselves swiping more of our credit cards to give in to some impulse buys and last minute decisions (especially when it involves the last toy available in the store!)
Another phenomenon that is set to increase by at least 10% according to purchasing trends is online shopping. Since online shopping allows you to save some time and just have your purchases sent to your door a lot of people are opting for it.
Usually it also has a lot of bonuses and perks that classic shopping can’t beat. Not to mention that you don’t have to compete with tons of people and line up just to get gifts, online shopping has become very convenient for most people.
However, it is also important to point out that due to this phenomenon a lot of scammers are aware of the situation and thus try to get a hold of your credit card information to use for their own online transactions.
There are simple techniques you can do to avoid any kind of credit card fraud during the holidays and by doing these things you can easily discourage any scammer to pick you as a potential target.
1. Learn about Credit Card Fraud/Identity Theft
Of course, the most powerful tool you can use to prevent credit card fraud is knowledge. To be more specific, awareness about how you can prevent fraud can easily be found over other articles I have posted and of course other sites. Having enough knowledge about identity theft will create enough awareness in you and of course allow you to prevent any kind of identity theft to happen to you.
2. Monitor Credit Card Bills and Financial statements
It is very important to monitor any kind of credit card bill and financial statement you receive during the holidays. Especially purchases you did online. Another thing you need to look at is if the credit card bills match your receipts since sometimes (most of the time errors) brick and mortar shops charge you the wrong amount usually due to the fact that there are just too many purchases during the holiday season and the salespeople are rushing your payment.
This can easily be resolved if you detect it quickly since you can do a chargeback to your credit card if you think you’ve bean cheated.
3. Secured Online Shopping
Now this is very important, most of the legitimate shops always have secured sites to keep their customers safe. Usually online merchants require you to enter a pin and password along with your credit card account number to increase security. I advice you to shop only in stores like these since most (if not 99%) of the legit merchants use this system to keep their customers safe.
Now, it is by no means that these techniques will guarantee that you will be a target of credit card fraud these holidays, but by following them I assure you that you are taking the preventive side of the situation.
Remember, scammers do not prey on knowledgeable people, they try to take advantage of ignorance and by following these tips you will not only be knowledgeable you will also be aware of any kind of credit card fraud happening to your family and friends.
credit card fraud, Credit Card Theft and Fraud, identity theft, identity theft protection, life lock, lifelock, Phishing, prevent id theft
