Activating a new credit card comes with many benefits that you’ll enjoy. However, there are several risks that comes with one as well. For example, you will be at risk for fraud if you don’t protect your card. I’ll go over the different ways you can protect yourself from credit card fraud below.
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Watch Out for Suspicious Activity
When you open a new card, most of the time, you’ll be able to access your account online or in a mobile app. Typically, it’s good to check your account at least once a week to keep an eye on your funds. With Visa, they have a utensil that has automatic suspicious activity monitoring as well.
Normally, the Visa company will be able to find credit card fraud by analyzing your data. This will compare and contrast your data with your normal spending habits to see if it’s a potential fraud. Additionally, if your card has fallen victim to fraud, your financial institute will alert you right away and freeze your account.
Location Alerts
Transactions that have been made outside of your normal location will alert your financial institute of a potential fraud. With Visa, they use geo-location tools to check your location when this happens. Furthermore, if you are not at home during this transaction, your bank will check your location to allow the transaction to go through.
If you are not at the location where the purchase is made, the company will reject the fees and notify your bank immediately. They are able to track your location for transactions with their mobile banking apps. Check with your bank or credit union and decide if you want to provide them more information for this purpose.
Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
With fraud attempts, it’s possible for you to be at risk for identity theft as well. These thieves will try to take your credit card information and scam your account. Fortunately, Symantec is an online security company that will monitor and alert you and your financial institute if there are any problems.
Another company that provides you protection against identity theft is MasterCard. They work with CSID a consumer services protection program that is partnered with Experian. CSID will overlook the black market sales for credit card numbers, as well as other personal intel. It’s a free service to sign up for on the Mastercard website. After you’ve applied for this service, you’ll be notified if any of your personal information pops up anywhere.
Identity Protection
Another service that keeps an eye out for fraud is Discover Card. They track the locations of where the consumer has logged in. Additionally, they have an extra layer of protection if a person tries to log in from a different device. If the potential scammer does something suspicious like delete cookies, change your profile or settings, Discover Card will be alerted.
Once Discover Card gets a ping on a potential fraud, they will send a code to: your email, text, or call to be sure you are aware. Then, they will let the transaction go through once you have verified that this activity is your doing. However, keep in mind that you are responsible for updating them with your contact information to get this code.
Recovering from Identity Theft
There are many services and companies that have extra layers of protection provided for you. Unfortunately, there are still cases of identity theft and credit card frauds. If you find yourself in this predicament, act quickly and report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Then, you should put a free fraud alert on your record with Equifax, Transunion, and Experian.
Companies like Mastercard will assist prevent further scams by freezing your account and notifying the three major credit bureaus. You will then be presented with the option to open a different account or wait for a new credit card. Additionally, this service will be open to you whenever you need by contacting 1-800-Mastercard.
Conclusion
Opening a credit card will open the door to many opportunities good and bad. However, you can avoid credit card scams by being aware of how it can happen. Plus, monitoring your account at least once a week will help slim down the chance of you falling victim to fraud. Lastly, if there is an instance where your account has been scammed, there are many countermeasures you can take. These steps will help you prevent the situation from escalating and loosing your funds.
