Risky Places to Use Your Credit Card

April 11th, 2011

Stay alert when you use your credit card
You can still be a victim of credit card fraud even if you use the utmost caution. Credit card companies and banks often put the onus of catching phony or incorrect credit card charges on the consumer.

Check your statement
The most important thing is to check your billing statement. And there are organizations like Creditcards.com that offer tips on how to keep your cards safe as well. Read on and take a look at some of the riskiest places you might use your card, according to Creditcards.com, and see what you can do to avoid the dangers.

Non-bank-owned ATMs
Encryption at these ATMs is often not as good as at bank ATMs, meaning some locations are just not as safe. These ATMs also are more likely to be hacked. In some cases, devices that look like ATMs but are not. They are just card-skimming devices aimed at stealing your credit card or debit card information.

Flea Markets
If you’re going to the flea market, take cash. Flea market merchants are often transient and can be difficult to locate if there is a problem with charges. Stay away from vendors who don’t have online credit card terminals and instead make carbon copies of your credit card. Of course not all flea market vendors are fraudulent…

Small Shops/Cafes in Foreign Countries
These smaller merchants have a significantly higher percentage of credit card fraud as reported by large banks and credit card companies. Many of these transactions end up being written off by the banks because the merchants simply can’t be located. When in doubt, use cash.

Wi-Fi Hotspots and Public Computers
It’s not advisable to ever transmit personal data when you’re in a public connection environment, especially on non-secure wireless. If you’re going to be making online transactions over an unsecured wireless connection like in cafes, parks and other hot spots, data can be compromised or seen while in transit, even if you’re on a secure page while you’re checking out. The same goes for public computers like libraries.

Recurring Bills/Subscriptions
Instead of using automatic billing, ask to be billed on a one-time bill by bill basis instead. When you use your credit card for purchases that involve weekly, monthly or annual billings, you can encounter the headache of over-billings, continued billing once a subscription has ended, etc.

Unsolicited e-mail offers
Unless you’ve signed up for solicitations from particular companies, be wary. Check the URL in the e-mail. If it looks suspect, don’t click on it.

Suspect Swipe Terminals
If there’s something that looks suspicious at an ATM or a gas pump credit card swipe terminal, like a separate stand-alone device for you to swipe your card through, or something looks like it’s been added onto the terminal, think twice about using it. More often than not, those types of add-ons are put there by criminals so they can steal your credit card information.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 3:41 am and is filed under Credit Cards, Economy, Finance, Identity Theft, Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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