Credit Card Counselors
posted in General Finance |A nice article articulating a credit card counselors viewpoint on how to go guard your credit card number.
Would you consider taking a blank check from your checkbook, signing it, and then leaving it on the counter at a convenience store? Would you leave a wallet full of cash lying around in public?
Of course not. In fact, these are ridiculous questions.
Nevertheless, many people carelessly extend an open invitation for strangers to steal from them by not guarding their credit card information carefully enough. Unfortunately, with just your credit card number and expiration date, it’s not that difficult for someone else to charge purchases to your account. That’s why credit card fraud is so high – it’s a combination of the lackadaisical attitudes people have toward their cards and other people’s willingness to steal from them if they make it easy enough.
The good news is that keeping your card number secure is relatively easy if you follow a few simple rules. Primarily, it involves changing your attitude toward the information on your charge cards, and respecting the potential for financial loss that comes with not keeping it secure.
First, don’t leave your credit card lying around – at home, at work, or at a sales counter, it doesn’t take long for someone to discreetly copy your number and expiration date. You’d never consider tossing several hundred dollars in cash on a sales counter, and then turning your back on it. You should have the same attitude about your credit cards.
Also, keep track of your credit card receipts and carbons, taking them from the cashier whenever you make a purchase. Letting the sales person throw them away means anyone with access to the store’s dumpster has access to your credit information.
Another good rule of thumb is to never tell anyone your card number over the phone, unless you initiate the phone call. There are quite a few unscrupulous companies that will tell you they need your credit card number to verify your identification or to claim a prize that you have supposedly won, and then make unauthorized charges to your account.
Never allow your credit card number to be used as identification for a check. This gives complete access to your number, along with your address and bank account number, to everyone who comes in contact with the check. That includes people at the store where you made the purchase, the bank the check is deposited to, and the bank the check is drawn from.
One of the more common things people do that leaves them open to credit card theft is to loan their card to a friend or family member. Remember that, every time that card leaves your possession, you run more of a risk of it getting into the wrong hands.
Finally, if you don’t use your credit cards very often, check your wallet or billfold periodically to make sure you still have them. One of the worst feelings imaginable is receiving your monthly statement and seeing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges over a period of weeks when you didn’t even realize the card was missing.
Source: American Credit Counselors
