Avoid online credit card fraud by following these basic security measures and being aware of the latest scams. When you shop online, you should know about some of the dangers associated with online purchasing and online credit card fraud. If you don’t take precautions, you could become a victim of online fraud, which could leave you with a large debt to pay for products or services that you have not purchased. Read the following information about the issues with online credit card fraud and more importantly, how to avoid them.
Online Shopping
Online shopping is prevalent throughout the world. Most businesses have a website that allows customers to purchase goods or services online.
Why shop online?
Online shopping is usually cheaper, quicker and more convenient than physical shopping. It costs businesses less to sell online than operate a physical store in an expensive shopping center. And a warehouse can be located anywhere that’s not expensive. Consumers just want a good deal – a good product at a reasonable price. And when a customer has a product and is using it, does it matter where they purchased it from.
However, there are still dangers to shopping online. There is the danger the website is not real or the business takes your money and never supplies the goods or service. You are providing your card details to someone you don’t know. They could use your card details to make other purchases.
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Credit Card or Debit Card
One way to reduce the chance of online fraud is make use of a credit card rather than a debit card. Credit cards usually have more security features than debit cards, although debit cards have been made a lot safer in recent times. Remember. credit cards are using the banks money and the transactions can be easily reversed.
Credit cards are usually covered by purchase protection, where products or services you have not bought will be refunded to you. Debit cards usually do not have this level of protection. Once money is taken from your account you cannot recover the funds.
Credit cards can be set with a transaction limit, a daily limit, can be limited to instore transactions, or suspended and reactivated by the customer. Many customers have their credit card locked for online purchases and overseas purchases. When they want to make an online purchase, unlock the card for online purchases, make the purchase and lock the card again.
Use HTTPS
When shopping online, make sure you only enter your card details over a secure internet connection. The https (hyper text transfer protocol secure) protocol encrypts information sent over the internet connection. If the data is intercepted by fraudsters, they need to decrypt the information. Most payment processors are produced by the banks using advanced mathematical encryption techniques that are impossible to decode. Criminals are never going to be able to decrypt your credit card information. If the internet page does not start with this prefix, do not enter your card details.
Use Trusted Web Sites
Using a well known and trusted business site, such as Amazon .com, is safe. Using small or unknown sites may lead to problems. That doesn’t mean never give a new business a chance to make a sale. But just be careful with a new site that you are not familiar with. Most small business sites will use a bank’s credit card processing system because it is too expensive for a small business to make their own card processing software. Using your card with a small business will be safe if it’s a genuine business.
Some fraudsters copy a large business’s website and pass it off as the actual business with a slightly different domain name. It looks and feels like the real business site but any purchases will be fake and they will steal your money.
If you see “Amazun.com” and not “Amazon.com”, it may well be a fraudulent copy of Amazon.
You can visit a physical store or telephone the business and speak to person to ensure that the business is real. Then once you are happy make online purchases from their website.
Keep Transaction Information
When you make a purchase online, save a copy or print out all of the information of the order and invoice number. If anything does go wrong then you will have a record of the transaction to follow up. If you want your bank to reverse the credit card transaction you will need the information and evidence you have tried to sort it out with the business.
Computer Security
Ensure you have your personal computer, tablet or phone devices protected with up-to-date security software. Some operating systems have built in security features, otherwise purchase additional security for anti-virus, firewall protection from hackers.
Physical security over your electronic devices is important. Ensure you don’t leave them lying around for thieves to take. Setup access passwords on your devices so criminals cannot access any information on your devices. Keep the screen locked when not in use or you leave the room.
Conclusion
Avoid online credit card fraud by using common sense and ensuring you have adequate physical and software computer security. Never leave your credit card lying around for someone to pickup and copy the information from the card. Remember, someone can easily take a photo of your card with their phone camera. Always know where your card is stored.
Don’t give the card to store employees to process a transaction. The employee may copy the credit card information without your knowledge. Always set transaction limits and deactivate features that are not required, such as overseas instore transactions, unless you are actually overseas.
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