Mankind will forever be grateful to technology for making life easy and comfortable. We can only imagine how uneasy life would be if we still have to queue at the bank to perform financial transactions when we can now do most of them on our smartphones, or when we have to borrow from family and friends when we can now use credit cards to meet our needs anytime and any day.
Although technology has improved our way of life, it has also paved the way for internet fraud and identity theft. The way we have debit card fraud is the same way we have several credit card scams. We will outline some of these credit card scams and how you can avoid them.
- The Phone Scam
This is one of the major ways fraudsters scam individuals and businesses. They call and act like they are representatives from the company you are dealing with and request sensitive information about your card. Some of them sound too professional to doubt that they are fraudsters.
How to avoid this: Irrespective of how professional these fraudsters may sound on the phone, please be aware that no legitimate organization will request payment or ask for your card details over the phone. However, if you notice that the call sounds legitimate, let them know you will call back using the official hotline, if you notice any pushback, then it is a scam.
2. Mail Theft
This is another common credit card scam that fraudsters use. They gain access to your email and obtain the necessary information required to create an account in your stead. They give out your information to the financial organization issuing the credit card and once your account is approved, they use the card in your stead while you pay for an account you never opened. They are called email hackers, they hack your account and obtain all your necessary and vital information.
How to avoid this: Make sure your email account is on a 2-way authentication mode so that hackers do not gain access to your account. Also, pay keen attention to your credit reports and financial accounts to identify abnormal activity so that you can report them.
3. Public Wi-Fi Scams
Everyone loves free wifi, that opportunity you get to access the internet at no cost, we love it. But it is advisable not to connect to wi-fi that is not secured because the activities you perform are liable to other parties. Do not perform any financial activity with a wi-fi that is not secured. Another common Wi-Fi-related scam involves hackers creating a Wi-Fi access point with a similar name to an official hotspot to scam visitors. Such hotspots are typically set up to let the operator view the information that travels between connected devices and the access point.
How to avoid this: Make sure you perform any financial transactions with your wi-fi. This way, you are sure that no one else has access to your login details.
There are more of these scams that are not captured in this article. Once you notice any call, SMS, emails, social media DMs that looks suspicious or is requesting you to pay for something you are not sure about, or asking for your card details, kindly decline and contact the official phone numbers of the company to report such actions.
Please beware, CredPal will not ask you to pay for something that you shouldn’t pay for, CredPal will not ask for your card details over a phone call. Keep your accounts secured and reach out to us if you notice any information that you do not trust.
