Keeping Your Credit Card Secure
Posted by Peter Brady on Wed 30th August 2006 at 07:00 AM, Filed in Credit Tips, Fraud
There are over a 100 million debit, credit, and store cards in circulation around the UK. Therefore opportunities for fraud are huge. Chip and Pin is having an impact but fraudsters are beginning to fight back with ever more elaborate scams.
One well known trick is for fraudsters to copy a card when they swipe it through a bespoke card reader. Criminals are then able to reproduce the card. There have been a number of reported cases recently of card readers being fitted to ATM’s in combination with a small camera so that your card cannot only be replicated but used with it’s Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Various initiatives are launched each year to make counterfeiting more difficult but nothing can ever be full proof.
A few simple measures you can take to help prevent fraud are:
1. Never lose sight of your card.
2. Never write your PIN down.
3. If you have trouble memorising your PIN a useful trick can be to create a story around the numbers. Alternatively, you can simply change your PIN to a year in your life that has significance - not your birthday or wedding anniversary!
4. Always make sure no one is watching when you enter your PIN - however difficult or embarrassing it maybe.
5. Always corroborate your receipts with the card statement, then destroy them using a cross shredder.
6. This is easier said than done, but you should always report lost or stolen cards as soon as possible.
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