Money Debit Card : How To Protect Yourself From Fraud

By: EconomyWatch Content Team   Date: 25 January 2010

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The switch to using a money debit card or credit card over cash happened to protect consumers from fraud. For a long time card transactions were much safer than carrying cash. But times have changed and scammers have become wise to taking advantage of these transactions too. However, there are steps you can take to make sure that your funds remain safe.

The first thing to do is to keep your information more secure. Never have a new money debit card or PIN number information sent to your home address. Anyone can walk up to your mailbox take something. And believe it or not, once a thief has your card the PIN number is not that difficult to figure out.

It’s much safer to have financial information sent to a PO box or to your work address where it will be delivered directly. Once you have no further use for the documents that you receive it’s always best to shred the documents rather than just throw them away. Similarly that a thief can just open your mailbox to get information, they can also go through your trash. 

The next step to keeping your money debit card secure is identifying potentially risky transactions. For example, you should never use your card for an online purchase to a website that you don’t know. If you have not used them before or know from public knowledge that they are a reputable company, do not give them your card number. A lot of these sites will be completely legitimate, but some will be scams and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Another safety precaution to take is to use your card with the credit option when at the gas station or at an independent ATM. Thieves often set up devices to these card readers to record your card number and PIN number. They can then use this information to take your money straight from an ATM.

If they only have your card number they will likely just move on to the next one with a PIN number and leave your information alone. These are very simple steps that merely require you to be aware of the potential for fraud and make some common sense choices to keep your information private. And of course, should fraud occur on your account, report it immediately to avoid more damage from taking place.


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