Credit Card Advice
In our last article we spoke about an example where the person was paying attention to their card often, yet not using it. In a further continuation of advice regarding that card, we will talk about the aftermath of fraud.
Fraud is not an easy thing to get rid of. The person in our last example was able to get the charges removed right away. Then some paperwork and a letter was asked to be submitted for proof. The person also had to file a police incident report. This is a simple case of solving fraud. However there is more to the story. Upon learning of the fraud Sue checked her credit report and found a card not her own on the report. The card had Sue as an authorized user.
Things like this happen all the time. Once someone gets the credit card details it is easy to further steal their identity. There are some individuals who have their identity stolen two or three times. This is because the information has been sold more than once.
There is only one sure way of protecting yourself against credit card fraud. That is to alerts on your account in which no one can open a line of credit or any other financial type of account in your name without going through a lot of hoops. For some this is the only answer. For others we just live with the fear. The cost of getting alerts placed on your account can be expensive, but it can also be worth it.
Credit card companies in Ireland will make it very difficult to prove the fraud and get the charges removed. It can literally take years to get the fraud charges removed and get everything financially back on track. Just accessing a credit history report once a year is not enough, especially if you do have open lines of credit.
Instead for credit card holders and everyone else it is important to have some type of email alert system. Credit card companies have been offering discounts as well as free alerts to consumers, just to make sure that their consumers are protected.
You can take that a bit further by accessing the necessary reports and statements more frequently. There is no sure way to stop credit card fraud unless you have the block on your account. The fraudsters will find information in a variety of ways.
By staying off the internet with purchases you will be covered a little more than those who buy online, but in a world where convenience is important this can be a little tougher than other options. There are some companies offering a onetime use credit card number and pin to enter on the website. These numbers can be used for purchases on your credit card without the details being placed online. The number you use is trashed once it has been imputed and harder to track back to the actual account. By being aware of the danger you are more likely to avoid it.
