Select By Card Type
Select By Card Issuer

Home > Credit Card Articles > Credit Card Fraud

Credit card usage, and therefore, credit card fraud, is on the rise.  Each year, more and more people use credit cards for their everyday purchases.  We here at mycreditcard.com actually encourage credit card usage, but only if controlled and paid off monthly, in full.  In previous articles, we have mentioned numerous benefits of using a credit card for your purchases.  However, please be careful. 

Most people believe that credit card and identity theft are really something that happens to someone else.  Most people have the attitude that “this won’t happen to me.”  Well, don’t be surprised if it does.  Common sense however, can keep you from being a victim of credit card fraud.  Below are some simple, yet extremely important, tips for preventing credit card fraud:

• Sign your credit cards.  It amazes me to see how many of my friends use credit cards, but never sign the back.  If their wallets were to get stolen, the thief would simply sign the back just like they sign their driver’s license.  Would you believe most clerks just quickly glance at the signature on the back of the credit card and make sure it matches the signature on your driver’s license? They don’t even check to see that the name on the front of your credit card and the name on the front of your driver’s license match.  Scary, but true. 
• Remove mail on a daily basis.  Credit card thieves love to open your mail box and steal your credit card statements.  Those credit card statements, unlike credit card receipts, have your full name, credit card number, and in many cases even the expiration date of your credit card number listed on the credit card statement. You don’t want a thief having your full name, credit card number and expiration date.  This would make for one heck of a holiday spending season for the thief.  Therefore, even if you are away on vacation, have your mail removed daily.
• Don’t let restaurant staff switch your credit card.  Would you believe waiters and waitresses have been known to switch the credit card they return to you?  Now, sometimes it’s by error.  But the ones that are thieves will do it on purpose.  Most restaurants have a stack of credit cards that are accidentally left behind by customers on a daily basis.  Usually, the customer discovers that he is missing the credit card within a day or two, and cancels the credit card.  But the savvy, thief, waitress or waiter will give you back a credit card left from the night before by someone else so they can get your good credit card that is still active.  It’s the old switch-a- roo.  After you’ve had a few drinks, and your in that dark restaurant or bar, you may not even realize until a day or two later that you have someone else’s credit card in your wallet.  If you do happen to notice, the waitress or waiter will simply say they switched the credit card by accident, and you will likely just brush it off.  Scary, isn’t it.  The thief waiter or waitress now has about 24 hours to charge away, at your expense.  Make sure you get the right card back every time you make a charge.

By Woody Alpern

CPA and Registered Investment Advisor