HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT OF YOUR CREDIT CARD

HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT OF YOUR CREDIT CARD

Though the credit card companies and law enforcement have not noticed any fraudulent use of the cards affected, that doesn't mean there may not be fraudulent use in the future, security experts said. Often, when credit card accounts are hacked, account numbers and other information obtained may be sold to others who, in turn, may use that information to make unauthorized purchases.

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The card companies have zero-liability policies, which protect the card holder from responsibility for any unauthorized charges or fraudulent use. But that doesn't mean they'll necessarily contact you if your account was affected. Some might, but they are not under any obligation to. Consumer advocates recommend that you be vigilant in checking your credit card statement for any charges you did not make. The banks that spoke to CNNfn and CNN/Money said they also would be monitoring the affected accounts for fraud.

If you find any charges you didn't make or simply want to confirm the status of your account, contact your credit card issuer. (In the case of a MasterCard or Visa, you should contact the bank that issued your card. In the case of American Express and Discover, you should contact them directly.)

Calling may be a good first move, but you may also need to alert the company in writing if there have been fraudulent charges. Check the issuer's billing-error reporting procedure. If you can't find it anywhere on your latest statement, ask the issuer how such reports should be handled.

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In some cases, your card issuer may take the initiative and alert you first. After it was notified by MasterCard last Friday, Citizens Bank, a financial institution serving the Northeast, shut down the accounts of 8,800 customers whose cards had been affected, bank spokeswoman Pamela Crawley said Monday. All the accounts were safe, she added.

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If 8 million card accounts were affected, and all those cards were canceled with new cards issued in their place, it would cost the credit card companies an estimated $200 million, according to credit card experts.

posted by Rajendra Gupta @ 7:33 AM