|
| Online Credit Card Fraud |  Consider steps that you can take to protect yourself from online fraud.
• Be sure you have the correct level of protection on your computer, such as using a firewall; this may stop hackers from gaining your personal information such as credit card details and passwords.
• Ensure that you update your software regularly as fraudsters are always finding ways of breaching older software.
• Always use anti virus software as viruses can be designed to steal personal information then in turn will be used by criminals to purchase goods or replicate your cards.
• Never reply to e-mails that you are unsure of and don’t click on a link in the email as this could take you to a fraudulent site also be wary of e-mails that ask you for your pin and passwords.
• The most significant thing that any one person can do to protect themselves from online fraud is to be aware of the types of internet fraud out there and know that no one is immune from this fraud.
• Make sure that you are on a secure site, when you are going to use your credit card to pay for goods online. You can determine this by looking at your browser’s status bar, there should be a padlock icon showing and in your address bar look for ‘https’ instead of ‘http’.
• When you do not use your computer, remember to log off as this will decrease your visibility online making your less of a target for hackers.
• There are credit card companies, which provide an online fraud guarantee whereby the credit card holder is not liable for fraudulent misuse of their credit card online. It is worth shopping around for service, which costs nothing.
Fraud prevention is becoming more prominent as we are becoming more aware of the dangers of online fraud. Credit cards companies are striving to come up with ways to beat the criminals. Credit card fraud cost UK banks 500 million pounds last year. It is said, prevention is better than a cure.
|
|
