Credit card fraud has become a very real and prevalent scourge in society, as more and people in Britain own credit cards. In fact, a recent survey by the online group PayPal indicates that one in five British workers admit to revealing confidential information over the telephone. This clearly demonstrates that workers in Britain desperately need to pay closer attention to when and where they divulge confidential information.
According to the survey, employees in Britain deemed the provision of confidential information online to be of lower risk: in fact, only 13 per cent of those who took part in the study said that revealing confidential information over the phone was a risk, compared to over 25 percent of participants who actually gave out confidential information over the phone.
Neil Edwards, head of financial planning at PayPal UK, commented, "It surprises me to hear how many people disregard the danger of providing bank and personal information over the phone while at work, sometimes in front of significant numbers of people." As a remedy, he suggested that consumers should make payments online to avoid exposing themselves to fraudsters.
In potentially unsafe areas – such as a busy workplace – not divulging confidential information is the first step towards the prevention of an attack of credit card fraud. However, if you do become a victim of credit card fraud, there are a number of basic actions you can take to prevent further misuse.
For instance, as soon as you realise your credit card has been misused in any context, make sure you report it to your credit card provider immediately. This minimises the damage done to your credit card, as once your provider is aware of the situation, you will not be held liable to any further misuse on the card. Credit card companies usually require oral confirmation of your credit card loss within seven days after it is first reported, and this should generally be followed by a written notice in order to make your telephone notice more effective.
Additionally, many reputable and established credit card providers will provide you with a detailed signed agreement when you sign up to their services; this way you can be sure to know what steps to take if your card is lost, stolen or the subject of misuse. However, if you do become a victim of credit card fraud or misuse, the stress that this may cause on your financial and emotional situation can make it difficult to take the right actions immediately. This is why prevention of credit card fraud is so important, so make sure you protect your personal financial information at all times.
In France, Italy and Spain, many of the bigger restaurateurs and retailers have a system called DCC ? dynamic currency conversion. It means they can convert your payment straight into sterling for you, at the till. This may sound tempting, but that conversion will add another 4% of the transaction onto your bill. What is often happening is that customers are authorising the payment in Euros, only for the retailer to put the payment through as sterling. UK customers don't even realise that this is going on, until they get back and look at the card statements.
According to the Visa's DCC guidelines, UK cardholders should be given the option to pay in Euros or sterling. Most people don't get the option, they are not aware that there is an option, and leave none the wiser. The retailer gets the 4% by the way. Perhaps we could have put it down to the language barrier, but seeing as the retailer actually pockets the extra, we're a bit suspicious of their motives.
The advice is: request the payment to be put through in Euros. There are a few card companies like Lombard Direct, Saga and Nationwide that don't actually charge you any extra for converting the payment into sterling. The big mainstream banks put a 2.75% charge on, but that's still less than 4%, so it's worth paying in Euros.
If you look at the cost of changing your money into Euros in the UK, and changing your cash and traveller's cheques in Europe ? you'll find that paying by credit or debit card while abroad is still cheaper because Visa and MasterCard have better exchange rates. It's also reassuring to take money out as you need it, rather than walking around with wads of cash, or having to queue to change traveller's cheques.
In case you were still thinking of changing your money in a bureau de change, don't fall for the ?commission free' signs. They just charge you more on the actual exchange rate, so you're still paying extra ? how else do you think they manage to stay in business!
Another tip: don't be tempted to withdraw cash using your credit card ? either abroad or in this country. You start paying interest immediately, and it's always a very high rate of interest too. If you want to take cash out, only use your debit card.
That brings us neatly onto our next subject, you need to be very vigilant when dealing with your debit and credit cards. If someone manages to steal them, they will no doubt get away with a lot of your hard earned cash before you cancel the cards. What's the problem you may think, we're chip and pin now! But although card fraud has reduced thanks to this new technology, there is more than one way to skin a cat (so to speak). Here's how (true story):
Mr & Mrs B travelled to Prague for a week's holiday, and Mr B was unfortunately pick pocketed and had his wallet stolen. Because the cards were all chip and pin, they did not report the cards as stolen, thinking that the thieves wouldn't be able to use the cards. However, they were not victims of chance criminals. One of the group had watched the couple inputting a pin number at the cash machine. Then another member got the wallet. Armed with a card and a pin number, they cleaned out that account. Then they tried the same number on the other cards ? yes, you guessed it, all the cards had the same pin number. Mr and Mrs B returned to find they had been relieved of thousands of pounds.
It's a common mistake ? as many as 1 in 3 cardholders use the same pin details for every card they own. Criminals know this, and many get away with a lot of money because they have a whole wallet full of cards they can access. You don't have to be in Europe, this can happen anywhere.
We have two vital pieces of advice:
Guard your number as you input it, someone could be watching, and later they could try to grab your wallet or handbag.
Don't use the same pin number on more than one card. We know it can be hard to remember all these pin numbers, but you can use a variety of tricks to remember them ? birth dates for example.
By being vigilant and keeping your wits about you, you can reduce your chances of losing out to card fraud.
Both Martin Mcallister & Michael Challiner are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Martin Mcallister has sinced written about articles on various topics from Festival Guide, Personal Finance and Insurance. Many reputable and established providers will provide you with a detailed signed agreement when you sign up to their services; this way you can be sure to k. Martin Mcallister's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Michael Challiner has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Advertising Guide and Quit Smoking. Michael Challiner has 15 years experience in financial services marketing at senior level. Michael now works as the editor of .. Michael Challiner's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.