E-tailers or the electronic retailers over the Internet are exerting efforts to entice consumers to use their charge cards more for online purchases. With the number of credit cardholders increasing exponentially, the e-tailers want these numbers to translate into online transactions for them, as the trend is not yet so much into online purchasing.
These e-tailers have resorted to marketing schemes such as giving toll-free numbers so that more shoppers would be motivated to placing their orders online. But with the growing number of online shoppers come the risk of charge card account fraud by hackers who have always found ways to steal credit card numbers from the different websites.
There was an instance when TV reports learned about lax security on a website when the TV reporting outfit was able to find its way to more than 1,500 customer credit records which practically revealed all information about the consumers.
These are typical reports which lower consumer confidence on the use of the online charge card account. There is a need to improve and upgrade the security features of online purchasing. The problem of charge card account thieves who use stolen credit cards to make online purchases is increasing. Basically, the issue here is protecting the consumer’s information from any leaks to third party incursion or from hackers.
There are several steps that the consumers can take to protect their credit card accounts against theft. Of course, the first security measure is to immediately sign your charge cards as soon as they get to you from the mail. You should affix your signature on the signature stripe at the back of the credit card upon receipt of the said card.
Another way to secure your credit card accounts is to use an unorthodox PIN or personal identification number, specifically considering unusual keystrokes which cannot be familiarized or memorized by a person looking over without permission while you are using the ATM. Make sure the choice of your PIN cannot easily be determined or deciphered.
Avoid leaving your transaction receipt at the ATM as there are valuable information like your PIN and account number which could be deciphered by an expert hacker. Make sure that before you discard your credit card account statements, receipts and other important bills, you shred them first.
Telephone purchasing transactions can also be very dangerous from fraud against charge cards. Do not divulge your credit card number over the telephone if you did not initiate the telephone call yourself. Be careful against telephone eavesdroppers especially if you are using a cordless telephone which is prone to eavesdropping.
Do not even entertain any special offers where you are required to spend money up-front without the merchandise in your hands, or refuses to name the card issuer. Always make it a point to retrieve back your best charge card account after every purchase. A good habit is to leave your wallet on your hand until you get back your charge card accounts. Also keep a separate record of your credit cards with their respective numbers in case these gets lost or stolen. Carefully check your monthly billings to verify if the purchases recorded and reflected are indeed your own purchases.
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