10 Helpful Practices to Protect Your Credit Card Online
In the post-pandemic age, millions of consumers have switched to a digital-first approach to shopping and financing other purchases. With most businesses shifting online, we’re venturing into an era of convenience with everything we need merely a credit card swipe away.
However, modern businesses and consumers have to deal with the unfortunate reality that the digital landscape is filled with a multitude of Cybersecurity threats, especially regarding online credit card transactions.
Today, scammers have an extensive range of tools and strategies they can use to deceive credit card users. As a result, there’s been an exponential rise in credit card fraud and Cybersecurity threats in recent years.
Hence, consumers need to protect themselves to ensure their data and money is secure whenever they make online transactions.
In this post, we’ll discuss the most common types of credit card fraud in the post-pandemic age and share ten helpful practices to protect your credit card online.
The Most Common Types of Credit Card Fraud in the Post-Pandemic Age
1. Phishing
Phishing is one of the oldest credit card scams online. However, the practice has evolved significantly with the advancement of technology. Therefore, you can expect emails, texts, and tempting notifications that can lure you into following dangerous links to get your personal information. Once they get this information, they can use it for fraudulent purchases.
2. Data Breaches
In many cases, you don’t need to click on a malicious link or visit a suspicious website to reveal their private information. Many cyber criminals breach consumer data from third-party sites and company accounts and use it to complete fraudulent purchases.
3. Pagejacking
Pagejacking is a relatively new type of credit card fraud. It occurs when hackers create duplicate websites of legitimate services and route consumers to them. Consumers think they’re paying for products or services. However, they use their cards to pay for non-existent products or services and transfer the payments to scammers.
4. Card Testing
Card testing is another old and common scam cyber criminals use to steal money from cardholders. This scam involves using stolen credit card information to make low-value purchases multiple times until it maxes out. Along with stealing their money, they also force users to incur expensive chargebacks and fines.
5. Lost or Stolen Card
The most common type of credit card fraud (unauthorized purchases) occurs when a card is stolen or lost. In this case, thieves or card finders use the victim’s credit card to make unauthorized transactions using their credit until it’s maxed out. Consequently, victims lose money and suffer from impacted credit card scores.
6. Identity Theft
Identity theft is one of the oldest and most popular types of credit card fraud. This scam typically involves fraudsters stealing the victim’s card as well as their identities to make purchases or carry out other malicious activities. As a result, this fraud type has been regarded as one of the most dangerous ones in the market since it’s incredibly easy to carry out, even today.
Scammers usually lure victims via the phone or email, pretending to be authority figures from businesses they shop from, services they use, or places they visit. They ask for sensitive information, such as name, email, social security number, and credit card details.
Unfortunately, not everyone realizes they’re being scammed and end up giving up their information.
10 Smart Ways to Safeguard Your Online Credit Card Transactions
1. Active Monitoring
Due diligence in checking your credit card report actively is a smart way to detect and eliminate red flags. You can check for fraudulent transactions by looking for unusual information, such as unknown shipping addresses and unauthorized purchases. If you use your credit card for business purchases, keep a look out for multiple transactions in quick succession, as this is a sign of card texting.
2. Use One Card for Online Purchases
Another great way to protect your online credit card transactions is to limit the number of accounts you use for online purchases. In other words, you should use just one card for online transactions to minimize risk and threat exposure.
You can also enable instant transaction alerts via email and text to notify you whenever you use your credit card.
3. Opt for a Virtual Credit Card
Virtual credit cards have become incredibly popular in the digital age since they’re designed to maximize security when making online transactions. Essentially, these cards are used for one-time or limited-time transactions using a temporary card number. Hence, you don’t have to use your real card number and register your purchase activity.
4. Use Strong Passwords
All online transactions made on sites and apps using credit cards are password-protected. However, hackers have sophisticated tools they can use to crack passwords and gain access to credit accounts. Therefore, one smart way to protect your information is to use a complex password with a combination of alphanumeric and special characters.
You can also download a premium password manager to store all your payment accounts for easier access.
5. Report Suspicious Activity or Stolen Cards ASAP
According to Payments Journal, over 20% of Americans report stolen/lost cards and fraudulent charges yearly. If any of these things happen to you, you should contact your issuer immediately and block your account number to ensure no one uses it.
The good news is that the most you’ll have to pay for a new card and account is around $50. However, many credit card issuers can waive the charges depending on your usage history and how quickly you report the incident.
6. Steer Clear of HTTP Sites
One of the golden rules of browsing the internet is ensuring a secure connection when accessing websites. This means you should steer clear of sites that don’t have legitimate HTTPS security certificates. Most scammers target credit card users accessing these sides so they can get backdoor access into their systems and steal important information.
7. Shop from Trusted eCommerce Stores Only
Today, there are thousands of digital stores you can shop from. However, this doesn’t mean you should use your card on all of them. Ideally, it would be best to stick to the most trusted retailers in the market, such as Amazon, Ali Express, eBay, etc.
If you come across intriguing products or services on unfamiliar websites, make sure you look for user reviews to determine if they’re authentic before splashing your cash.
8. Secure Your Networks
One of the best practices you can adopt to protect your online credit card transactions is proactively securing your network before using your card online. For instance, you should avoid connecting to public WiFi networks. If you have no alternatives, you should opt for a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt your traffic and IP address so hackers can’t track or monitor your activities.
With this solution, you can ensure your financial information remains confidential at all times, no matter where you’re shopping from.
9. Upgrade Your Devices’ Defense Systems
No device is 100% immune to Cybersecurity threats. Therefore, you must ensure you follow the best security practices in the market by equipping your systems with a powerful defense system. This often includes installing a powerful antivirus or antimalware solution.
Or, you could hire a third-party Cybersecurity service to monitor and secure your traffic if you plan to make business transactions using your credit card.
10. Opt for a Digital Wallet
Digital wallets are actively becoming popular among digital consumers. These payment systems are installed on smartphones and designed to store your credit card information for quick and secure electronic transactions.
The most popular wallets in the market use encryption, multifactor authentication, and tokenization, among other technologies that make your transactions safer than ever.
Wrapping Up
In the post-pandemic digital-first economy, you must take proactive measures to monitor your online credit card transactions and protect yourself against fraud. By following the simple and effective practices in our list above, you can lower your Cybersecurity risk significantly and carry out your virtual purchases seamlessly.
While there’s hope for online security to improve in the future, you need to take more responsibility for your transactions due to the exponential rise in threats since the pandemic.
Any sign of carelessness or negligence could trigger hackers and scammers to do what they do best, so you have to make it as difficult as possible to get a hold of your credit card and other valuable information.
