Beware of Credit Card Fraud – Some Traditional and Modern Techniques Used

Credit card fraud is an age-old infraction that has plagued the financial sector for decades. By an estimate, Forbes predicts that credit card fraud losses could exceed $22 Billion dollars in the US alone by, 2020. While the banking sector constantly comes up with stricter measures to curb fraudulent activity, cybercriminals and identity thieves are getting smarter and smarter about scamming users. It is not uncommon for credit card scammers to come up with modern and up to date techniques of hoodwinking customers. There is always a need for both users as well as businesses to be on the lookout for such scams that can potentially incur a loss of thousands,if not millions, for both the parties.

However, as advanced as credit card fraud schemes may become, some traditional scams may still be relevant in this arena. Some of these old scams may seem obvious but are nonetheless relevant.

How To Beware of Credit Card Frauds

Application Fraud

Application fraud is a form of identity theft and happens when an individual usually assumes and/or steals your identity. They use your relevant personal details to acquire financial access into a bank. The person sometimes can also provide an untraceable address to which mail correspondence can be sent to. More often than not, banks put in place defences to avoid such fraudulent activity. They ask for original documents from the customer and call them to make sure they have been provided with authentic details. Regrettably, the scam artists too find ways to bypass such security measures. They generally forge a person’s identity documents and provide false phone numbers that turn out to be disconnected.

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Loss or Theft of Credit Card

It is not uncommon for people to lose their wallets or purses, or have them stolen, which mostly contain their important ID documents, credit and debit cards. It is the easiest way for criminals to get their hands on your credit card and use it to commit fraud. It is therefore pertinent that you block all your credit cards as soon as they are stolen or are found missing.

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Falsified or Counterfeit Cards

One of the hardest credit card frauds to pull off is to counterfeit them. It takes a lot of time, skill and effort to make a passable forgery of a credit card, especially since the initiation of EMV or chip and pin and hologram tech in credit cards. Though however complicated it may be, it still does not stop skilled criminals. The forged cards that scammers use may not be directly linked to a bank or a user’s account but they might be long gone once the scam is uncovered.

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Account Takeover

Account takeover is similar to identity theft. Normally what happens is that a fraudster may find your lost or stolen ID documents and assume your identity in order to gain access to your banking details. They may also impersonate you to open a new account. Since they hold all your original documents they generally succeed in defrauding the bank(s). Here it is pertinent to mention that there have been introduced measures and advanced tech for banks to verify the identity of their customers. They can verify their customers’ identities through KYC and identity verification services provided by different companies. One of the best in the industry is Shufti Pro which is a SaaS that provides identity verification services in various forms including face verification. It is a measure which is extremely hard to trick or deceive as it identifies a person’s face through liveness detection, 3D depth and perception and colour texture analysis.

Some more modern and contemporary ways that criminals have found to get away with credit card fraud. They are relatively less intricate and simpler to execute but manage to defraud nonetheless.

Free WiFi Hotspots

You may often find a free, open and unprotected wifi network when you’re travelling and may be tempted to use it. Free wifi hotspots are the easiest way for the criminal who owns the network, to gain access to your personal information that you enter while you are carelessly browsing over the internet. It is therefore inadvisable to use an open wifi network. Even if you find yourself doing so, avoid using any websites that might contain your personal banking information, including your bank’s online account. Here are some Fabulous Tips to Secure Your Netgear WiFi Network.

Social Engineering

It is perhaps the most intricate way that fraudsters use to defraud the customers. They often pose as your bank’s representative to ask or confirm your details. They may already have some of your account’s information which may lead you to believe them. However, most if not all of such calls are a hoax and one must be aware of them. They can give any such reason to obtain your information including offering you a reduction in your interest rate, asking you to update your information or even to intimate you to potential fraud. Must know about the What Is Pname Com Facebook Orca Error and How To Fix It?

Credit Card Skimming

Card skimming occurs when you swipe your card at the ATM or at a shop and at the processing terminals. Fraudsters usually install skimming devices in ATMs and point of sales terminals so that once you swipe your card at the terminal they gain access to your data. They then use that information to incur transactions in your name from your account that you may remain unaware of for a long time. Know more about the Best Operating Systems For Ethical Hackers.

Hotel Front desk Calls

While on vacation if you are staying at a hotel, you may sometimes find that you receive a call on your hotel phone from someone claiming to be from the front desk. They may ask you to give your credit card details again for them to confirm. However, in doing so you may end up giving the information to a potential fraudster.

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