Protecting yourself against card fraud

The number of debit card fraud has increased over the years and as a results financial institutions are advising consumers to rather opt for credit card option. Unfortunately, it’s not everyone that can qualify for a credit card in South Africa. When it comes to protecting yourself from debit card fraud, the best offense is defence.  You always need to Stay on top of your accounts, this can help you quickly catch transactions that you did not authorise furthermore you can also minimize your financial loss. 

There are a few steps that you can take to protect yourself from falling victim to this kind of a crime:

Review your statement each month. Online bank accounts typically offer a transaction log where you can regularly review your purchases, but it’s also worthwhile to run through your statements each month to see if you missed any unusual activity. If you find a questionable charge, be sure to contact your debit card issuer immediately. 

Keep statements in a safe place. If you are keeping your physical statements, always make sure these are kept safe or make sure you destroy them by shredding or burning them.

Keep tabs on your debit cards. Although so many transactions happen  virtually  now adays without an actual card swipe, you might not use your physical card on a daily basis. Keep track of which wallet your cards are in so they don’t fall into the wrong hands. If you lose a card or think it may be stolen, report it right away. 

Be careful about where you store your data. Avoid storing your debit card number or PIN on your device or sending it through email. If someone gets access to your phone, computer or email, they could have all the information they need to take money from your account.

Protect your debit card when shopping online. Analyze all online stores before shopping because scammers can set up shops with bad intent. There are several precautions to take when making online transactions such as : before entering debit card information, make sure there’s an “https” (the “s” means secure) before the website name in the address bar and that there’s a padlock icon next to it.

Always consider paying with a third-party payment service like PayPal as a first option when paying online since the recipient never sees your account information and you may be covered by purchase protection.

You can never run away from crime completely but it is very important to take all safely precautions to protect yourself from falling victim to all these different scams.

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