7 Must-Do Tips for Credit Card Safety

Credit cards are really helpful when you want to shop either physically or online. The reason behind this is the fact that you don’t need to stuff your wallet/purse with a good amount of cash while going to shop and you can easily use your credit card to shop as much as you want.

However, if you aren’t a fan of following safety procedures and aren’t cautious about credit card safety then there is a lot to worry about. The reason behind this is the fact that fraudsters and thieves are always on the lookout to get your credit card, the PIN and all the details about you so that they can easily do identity theft and use your credit card for their own purposes.

Here are seven tips that should help you in keeping your credit card secure and in helping you avoid identity theft.

Don’t divulge your PIN over the phone

Many scammers actually pose of as bank employees and ask for various details like your account number and PIN over the phone. It is important that you never divulge any such details when you receive a call. If you think that the reason quoted for asking the details is valid enough, you should disconnect the call, simply call the bank manager, and tell him the details yourself!

No need to keep all the cards with you

When you go out to shop, there is no need to take all your credit cards with you. A couple of credit cards should be more than enough to help you shop as much as you want to. It is better to never have more than one or two cards with you when you’re outside as the chances of robbery and theft are never low and thus, you won’t want to lose out on all your credit cards at once if, in an unfortunate event that a robber or thief steals everything you have.

Never enter credit card PIN when accessing internet through WiFi hotspots

WiFi hotspots are not secured and people can easily extract the passwords and PIN numbers you may have entered in a submission form. Thus, it’s better to never access your online bank account or any online account for that matter while accessing the internet using WiFi hotspots. However, if there is an urgent need, it’s better to keep a VPN connection with you which would help secure the connection for you so that you can easily enter the PIN and other account details where needed.

Never write your PIN anywhere

There is no need to write your PIN anywhere. However, if you are liable to forgetting your PIN then it’s best to keep it in a safe place from where you can access it. Never have it stored as a draft on your mobile phone and never keep the code written on a piece of paper in your wallet as the chances that your wallet and your mobile phone will also be taken away by robbers in case of a theft along with your credit card remain high.

Enter account number and details only on secured websites

There are many shopping websites over the internet which doesn’t have a secured gateway and thus, if you will enter your credit card details on such a website, the chances that hackers might get their hands on the info are high. Thus, it’s important that you first check that the URL of the website includes ‘https’ instead of the normal ‘http’ which shows that your data will be encrypted and will remain secure.

Save your receipts

It is best to actually keep your receipts safe at home. It is important that you don’t take the receipts with you along with your credit card whenever you go outside as in case of a robbery, you won’t want your receipts to be stolen as well along with the card which would translate into you losing any criteria to define which transactions were made by you and which weren’t.

Create a list of contact numbers of your credit card service

Your credit card company should be notified as soon as possible in case you lose your credit card or in case it is stolen. Thus, it’s best to keep a list of contact numbers of the credit card companies you use so that you can easily establish contact with them at the earliest.

By following these basic and simple tips, you can ensure credit card safety and can save yourself from fraudsters and scammers.

Author Bio

This is guest post from Lewis Hooker, who is an internet marketer and SEO consultant; He is currently experimenting with trading and helps his clients in selecting binary options brokers. You can find him on his Gtalk: LewisHookerOnline

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Tags: Credit card, Credit card debt, credit counseling, Credit history, Family Finances, Personal Finance

Category: Credit