How to Keep Your Credit Card Safe

Your social security number, credit card and debit card numbers, mailing address, and more are all examples of personal information that should be secured. This guide will help you safeguard your personal information, identify whether thieves are using it, and learn how to recover from identity theft.

Your personal identification may be in danger in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, some are beyond your control (such as a significant business data breach), while others may be avoided.

We have decided to concentrate on how to protect yourself against both corporate and individual breaches, as well as from widespread schemes that are still in use. You may always take precautions to ensure the security of your personal data.

Physical credit cards being encrypted

All customers should, at the very least, use chip-based cards. Ask your issuer whether they have updated cards available and if you still have any magnetic-stripe cards in your wallet. Always utilize a chip if you can when you’re shopping rather than swiping your card.

The same holds true for mobile wallets and contactless credit cards. Compared to magnetic-stripe systems, both choices provide better levels of security and stronger encryption.

Online transaction encryption

For those who are not familiar, the letters “HTTP” that appear at the start of each online URL are an abbreviation for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol” (HTTP). HTTP is the protocol that enables communication between your browser and a website.

Make sure that your website’s URL contains “HTTPS” rather than “HTTP.” All connection between your computer and the website’s server is encrypted and secret since the “S” stands for secure.

Phishing

Phishing is the practice of obtaining personal information through deceptive emails, calls, imitation websites, and other forms of contact. The “Nigerian Prince” hoax is the most well-known illustration.

How to recognize phishing

Take care while communicating urgently.

Always make a call

When feasible, use two-factor authentication.

Update your software.

Always keep a backup of your data

Scammers frequently imitate official emails from governmental organizations, emails relating to the workplace, etc. Check the sender’s address for any misspellings—which are typically the primary giveaway for phishing scams—if an email requests a speedy response or has a link in the body. Always consider your options before clicking.

Always call the financial institution’s official customer care number before replying if they contact you and something doesn’t look right.

Additionally, practically all financial institutions will use a two-step verification process of some form. Banks and credit unions may send one-time-use codes to your phone or email, while others, like PayPal and Venmo, employ an authenticator app on your phone

Maintaining current operating systems, antivirus programs, and firewalls is important since phishing can potentially result in malware or ransomware. And always make a backup of your data; to stay current, backups should be made at least once each month.

Typosquatting

“URL hijacking” is another name for typosquatting. Typosquatters buy domains with the goal of driving traffic from frequent misspellings of well-known brands.

Can you distinguish between www.lifelock.com and www.Iifelock.com, for instance? (The second URL is wrong; the word “Life”‘s first “L” has been changed to a capital “I.”)

Many of the deceptive websites have malware that can spread to your computer and steal your personal data when you make an online transaction.

What to do to stop typosquatting:

Avert typos

Create a favorites list.

Start with search engines.

Watch out for grammatical mistakes.

If you are directly typing a site URL into the navigation bar, exercise caution at all times. When a typosquatter registers a domain, it is simple to “fat finger” your way in.

Additionally, you may always avoid errors by typing your destination’s name into Google or another search engine, or just by adding all of your frequently visited websites to your bookmarks.

Scams on the phone

Millennials are more inclined than Baby Boomers to divulge personal information over the phone, despite the stereotype that telephone frauds target the latter group.

While mobile phone providers are now in charge of fighting telephone spammers rather than people, phone fraudsters may still steal your personal information.

Never give a cold caller your personal information.

Don’t answer right away

Await the voicemail.

Dial the business

Skimming

Skimming is undoubtedly something you’ve heard about in the news; it typically happens at gas stations or ATMs. The most frequent type of data breach is still skimming, which is both one of the most straightforward to set up and one of the most straightforward to overlook.

Skimmers are discreet little gadgets that immediately and covertly duplicate any credit or debit card information. They can be freestanding or linked to other gadgets. Anyone may become a victim of skimmers, but there are steps you can do to safeguard yourself:

Examine card readers at all times

Prefer using credit cards to debit cards

Check your accounts.

Actual theft

Your identity may always be stolen if your wallet, pocketbook, or credit card were physically taken. Additionally, if you conduct your banking on your phone, as more than 60% of Americans do, then the loss of your phone may potentially put your personal information in danger.

Fortunately, the deterrents for physical theft are still effective:

Keep your personal belongings secure and hidden.

Delete any superfluous personal information-containing materials.

Keep an eye on incoming correspondence, such as mail

If you’re worried that burglars could go through your mailbox, have a look at Informed Delivery from USPS. Users of Informed Delivery can get alerts and images of letters and shipments that will be coming in their mail.