Why You Should Be Careful With Your Credit Card Details

By Author: Alisdair Cosgrove
Total Articles: 184
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It is important that you guard the details of your credit card and be extremely cautious about to whom you give this information. With the convenience of the Internet for shopping and paying bills using credit cards comes the risk of being conned out of your money by fraudsters who are constantly devising ways of gaining the personal information they need to use your credit card. If you stop for a minute and think of all the ways you do use your credit card to make purchases you will realize the many ways you could be opening yourself up to fraud.

When a fraudulent person gets his/her hands on your credit card quite often all that is required is a signature, rather than a PIN number. You may have a PIN number to use when you want to get a cash advance on the card through an ATM machine. There are other personal details associated with the card that you should keep secret and not divulge to anyone. These include the answers to personal questions that you choose, the most common of which is your mother's maiden name. The three additional digits after the account number on the back of your card are also very important and ...
... a person who already knows your credit card number can do untold damage with this information.

Always know where your credit card is. If you usually keep it in your wallet, make sure you have a good hold on this wallet. When you are going out at night to a crowded club, it is best to use cash and leave your credit card at home. This will reduce the temptation of using the card when you don't really need to and will keep it safe from thieves who can quite quickly steal your card. When you do enter your PIN number at a store to make a purchase make sure you do guard the number with your hand so that it can't be seen by cameras of those standing in line behind you.

There has been an increase in the number of calls people in the UK have been receiving of late requesting details of their credit cards promising to get them a better interest rate. These are not legitimate calls. If you do receive one of these calls, you should ask the caller for the name of the company and the telephone number so that you can return the call. Chances are you won't get the information and the caller will likely hang up.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in the UK has issued warnings about responding to unsolicited phone calls and emails asking for such information. In spite of these warnings, many UK residents have fallen for the fraudsters' tricks and have given out the requested information. Banks and financial institutions will never call or email you asking for such information. You should be suspicious of any phone calls or emails that require you to give the details of your credit card.

The same thing applies to an email that claims to come from the HM Revenue and Customs. UK residents have received such emails telling them that their tax returns have been reviewed and that they are entitled to an additional refund that will be paid to their credit card account. The government will never contact you in this manner and will only do so in writing. Disregard such emails and delete them from your computer.
Alisdair Cosgrove is a freelance writer specializing in personal finance. You can read more of his work at www.JSNet.org for credit card comparisons including low rate credit cards and also offers a comprehensive list of airline credit cards. You can read more about credit cards from his on site article, 'finding the right credit card'.