Remember, your financial information is at risk all the time. Fraudsters will always come up of new intricate ways to trick you from giving credit card details. Here are some advices to protect yourself from scammers.
Shred any receipts or papers with a credit card details on it.
Fraudsters can be dumpster divers, which mean, they can use tossed rubbishes to obtain financial information from you. For this reason, it is best to shred receipts and bank statements before dumping them in the trash.
Keep your PIN private
Do not use the same PIN code on all your cards and avoid using personal information such as your birthdate in your PIN code. If you are going to withdraw, cover up your PIN number when typing and be wary of your surroundings. It is also not advisable to write your PIN number on a piece of paper.
Phone passwords
Passwords must be protected on a high level. If you use the same password on all your accounts, it is time to change it. Change the password on all your accounts and cards as it makes it easy for a fraudster to access all your accounts if all of them have the same passcodes.
Moreover, do not save your passwords on your computer and as much as possible, set a security pin on your mobile phone and computers to avoid unauthorized people from accessing sensitive information inside your device.
Phone calls from your bank
Do not let your guard down especially when you are in a public place or in an internet shop doing online banking. And if you are talking to your bank, do it in a secure and private place where no one can hear any banking details about your transaction.
One of the scam tricks fraudsters do is by trying to lure you using phone calls. They may pretend that they are from the bank and asking you to provide banking details. If this happens, don’t be afraid to ask questions and verify their identity first before providing any important information.
Viruses
To protect your computer from malicious software and spyware, install anti-virus software and make sure to keep it running and updated especially when you are online.
Emails
Beware of suspicious emails. Fraudsters use electronic mailing to trick their victims into giving financial details. They usually pretend to be from your bank and will request that you confirm your banking details. If an incident like this happens, don’t provide information and don’t click any suspicious links in the email as it may contain malware that can steal data from your computer. Remember that a bank will never send an email to threaten you or will request any financial details of you.
Online transactions
Do not trust websites easily especially if you are making online transactions. Do not give away personal and financial details unless that site is reputable.
