Credit cards and debit cards have helped us purchase items with ease at our everyday grocery store to our favorite online retailer. However, there are certain dangers that everyone should be mindful of when using a credit card. The most obvious one is to not lose it as anyone can find it and make a couple purchases with it before you even notice. Additionally I do want to talk about other ways to keep your cards and yourself secure.
Let’s start with the fact that using credit cards online has become the norm and we will continue to use them to make purchases on online retailers. To become more secure online you’ll need to keep a few things in mind. The first is to verify the identity of the website you’re on and to make sure they are using encrypted channels of communication for their payment page. Even with an encrypted page you will still need to be mindful of the WiFi network you are connected to. I would avoid making any purchase on any public WiFi network and I would go as far as to say to avoid logging in to websites that contain your sensitive personal information such as banking sites.
Also, while on the web, you must use logic to determine whether someone is trying to scam you. Most time these scams come through your email and some of them can be very convincing. Don’t ignore the alarm that goes off in your head if an unsolicited email comes from certain companies, if there are spelling errors or informal grammar, or if the email address looks a little off. For example, I have received emails stating my Apple account has been locked and I need to click a link to have it unlocked, however all my Apple devices are operating just fine.
The biggest red flag in an email is one that asks you for your personal information and this also applies to websites. An instance of code injection has been seen where attackers have created information fields that don’t normally exist on webpages. This leads you to believe that an application you are filling out is legitimately asking for your credit card number or social security number. This is why you need to think before you act and to not assume that the computer is always right.
Moving out of the digital space into the physical world, scammers and hackers have different methods of preying on unsuspecting victims. We have seen scam calls and robocalls become a huge nuisance over the past couple years even with the effort of telephone companies to quell them. You will see from time to time that a scammer will convince someone to pay an “overdue bill” and take their card information but most times these scammers are trying to get paid with cryptocurrency because it is untraceable. If there is any doubt over whether a bill has been paid or not you should hang up the phone and call the actual number for the company in question.
Up to this point, most of these schemes are relatively easy to avoid, you just have to see through the veil that is laid out in front of you. The next scheme is a tricky one even for people who are on their toes. Gas stations are known to be hotspots for hackers to set up shop in the equipment that’s already there. Card skimmers are most prevalent and I have fallen victim to one as they were able to get my card information and make a ton of purchases on my card. Most skimmers are placed at the pump and are made to blend in to the machine, some times these skimmers are very elaborate (link to video of skimmers). Another machine that is susceptible to these attacks are ATMs however most ATMs are under video surveillance which helps deter would-be hackers.
Finally, the last avenue of attack that hackers use to steal credit cards is through point of sale systems (POS). POS systems are virtually everywhere and are able to accept payments where you can swipe, insert, or tap your card, smartphone, or smart watch. Although POSs are not new, hackers have found that these systems are easily corruptible and highly profitable letting them access to large amounts of payment information from various companies. For example in 2014 Target was, for lack of a better term, a target of a large data breach that revealed the payment information for hundreds of millions of their customers and the trend has continued ever since. With this attack there is not much the average person can do to prevent it from happening to them. All you can do is to cancel the card(s) that you used at stores that have had their data breached.
While it seems that using your credit card should be avoided at all costs, there is a huge benefit that credit card companies offer to their customers and that’s consumer protection. Alternatively, fraudulent charges on debit cards are much harder to reimburse simply because it deals with cash directly instead of through a credit line. Credit card companies are the best at protecting consumers and their identities, so much so that people take advantage of them which just ruins it for everyone else.
Credit card companies offer many tools to help you keep track of your purchases and staying on top of your account activity is the best way to catch any odd spending. So keep on using those cards just don’t get caught flat footed when an emergency arises.