5 Simple Tips to Avoid Credit Card Fraud

We recently posted about our no-nonsense stance on fraudulent transactions and how we’re cracking down on fraud to protect ourselves and card holder. Our efforts have already resulted in arrests which has spurred us on to continue hunting down fraudsters!

We have lots of measures in place to detect fraud, but there are things everyone can do to prevent their card being used fraudulently. We’ve got 5 simple top tips to help avoid credit card fraud:

1. If You Lose Your Card: it’s tempting to leave it a couple of days before reporting your credit card stolen because “It might turn up”. It’s really not worth the risk as a couple of days is all the thieves need to max out your credit card limit. Report your card as lost straight away by contacting your bank. Worst case scenario, it turns up in a couple of days and your new card turns up shortly after.
2. Dodgy Phone Calls/Cold Callers: every bank says that they will never call you and ask for your credit card details or other sensitive information over the phone. If someone calls you, never give them personal information and always call you bank if you are unsure.
3. Keep Your PIN Secret: sometimes it may seem easier to give your partner or friend your card and your PIN and then send to them the shop or cash machine for you. Your PIN should be kept completely secret. Fraudsters can use information about you that you may not think can be used to commit fraud, but it can. Shred or burn any documents and receipts with personal information, including address, data of birth and contact details. Anything that refers to you that you don’t need anymore – such as old receipts – should be destroyed, just to be sure.
4. Online Fraud: again, your bank will never email you requesting personal details. Common fraud schemes send emails to people pretending to be the bank and include links to a website that may look exactly like Natwest or Lloyds TSB. If in doubt, call your bank. When shopping online, there are a number of indicators on a website which demonstrate page security. See the images below from our website as an example of a safe page to shop.
5. Check Your Bank Statements: it’s a boring process, but half an hour at the end of each month spent checking your bank statements to make sure they match up to your receipts or are payments made to recipients you recognise.