The rate at which people use credit cards to do e-transactions all over the world continues to increase. According to Shift Processing & Money.co, about 2.8 billion credit cards are being used worldwide. In the United States alone, the figure is over 1.06 billion credit cards.
However, the issue of credit card fraud has also been a very serious phenomenon in the area of digital transactions worldwide. As technology gets more advanced day by day and people carry out financial activities,scammers are also devising means to explore ways of defrauding people of their money.
A lot of people from all over the world keep falling victim to credit fraud. A lot of safety and technological methods are being put in place, and a lot of enlightenment is being given to people.
Those measures have gone a long way in curbing this ugly act. However, the act is still going on, and people are still falling victim on a daily basis.
Before we continue, let’s look at the meaning of credit card fraud.
What is credit card fraud? .
Credit card fraud occurs through the unauthorized use of your credit cards and secret information to engage in fraudulent financial transactions. A scammer can steal your credit card secret information or open a new credit card account through your stolen information.
Statistics of Credit Card Fraud
According to the Bankrate & Nilson Report, the number of cases of credit card fraud globally increased to $32.34 billion in 2021. It added that the residents of the United States fell victim most, as the country accounted for $32.34 billion of the total number of frauds globally.
The report added that losses suffered by people globally from credit card fraud will reach $397.4 billion in the next ten years, considering the rate at which fraud is growing.
According to the UK Finance Today platform, in the United Kingdom, the issue of remote purchase fraud through credit cards is the biggest category in terms of financial loss in digital transactions.
The platform said that about £395.7 million was lost by people in the country in 2022 to this fraud. The platform added that fraud perpetrated through lost and stolen cards went up by 30 percent to £100.2 million in the same year.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States of America said that the number of cases of credit card fraud in the country went up considerably in 2022.
FTC added that credit fraud for new accounts increased by over 13 percent in the same year, while fraud cases on existing accounts increased by over 23 percent.
The FTC report said that it received 441,822 new reports of credit card fraud in 2022. It added that more than 151 million Americans have fallen victim to fraud at some point in their lives. The figure shows that close to two-thirds of all credit card holders in the United States have been victims.
Here are the best methods you can adopt to avoid credit card fraud.
1: Use a Chip Reader to Avoid Skimming.
Skimming is a method that a scammer can use to steal your credit card information by systematically placing it near an ATM or gas pump.
The fraudster uses the device to read your credit card information and store it. He will later retrieve the sensitive information to make fraudulent transactions.
To save yourself from the fraud of skimming, try to use a chip reader, as this will prevent fraudsters from skimming’ the magnetic strip of your card.
2: Ignore fraudulent messages to avoid phishing scams.
A phishing scam is when a fraudster sends you a fake message through your social media platforms, emails, or phone. The message will appear to be real and make you think that it is coming from a popular and reputable credit card company.
The messages will ask you to provide your card login details or information to solve a particular problem for you. They may even ask you to click a link to solve the problem.
Please kindly ignore such messages because no genuine credit card company will ask for your login details or ask you to click a link.
I want you to note that by clicking such a link, the programs in the link will embed themselves on your system. This can lead to keystrokes to obtain your secret details and information on your cards.
3: Saving of Information:
Don’t just save your credit card on any website. Be very careful on the websites you allow to save your credit card details. You can avoid this fraud by researching websites properly before using your credit cards to transact with them.
4: Be Vigilant in Public:
When using your creed cards in public places like restaurants or stores, don’t let the employees take your cards out of your view. Fraud is easy to do when you are not around.
5: Don’t Take Too Many Cards with You:
If you take too many credit cards around with you, you may not quickly notice if one is missing. Therefore, reduce the number of cards you take around.
6: Don’t Say Your Card Numbers in Public.
Don’t give out your credit card numbers while in public. Anyone can write them down secretly. When you get to a private place, you can now give the numbers out to someone on the phone.
8: WI-FI: Don’t use your credit cards to make transactions with public WI-FI.
