Protect Your Credit Card: 3 Easy Ways to Make Safer Purchases Online
It is so much fun to shop online by simply clicking the purchase button and easily getting the package delivered to your doorstep. But take note that not all transactions go smoothly as promised because there are already over $3.5 billion reported total losses to businesses and individuals with unprotected online purchases.
Exercise caution when using your credit card
One of the things that you need to focus when using your credit card is protecting it from fraudulent transactions. Note that identity theft will wreck your credit by making lavish purchases on your credit cards, opening fraudulent accounts, and destroying your financial reputation.
Fortunately, you can practice a number of ways to protect your credit and ensure nobody is using it for fraudulent transactions.
- Learn to freeze your credit. You can use a security freeze on your account on making new credit inquiries to prevent thieves from making unauthorized lines of credit. This will also prevent any unauthorized inquiries, but you need to lift the freeze each time you need to open an account.
- Review credit report. Another way to protect your credit card is to review your credit reports regularly. You will be able to check your credit score with this option, while monitoring for unauthorized transactions.
- Use multi-factor ID. Augmented security features provide the only real option for blocking authorized and unauthorized activity. Most accounts are able to set security questions or locations aside from regular passwords or security tokens. Note that the time you are going to spend bolstering your account security can be a lot quicker compared to the time you spend trying to repair your credit.
- Use virtual card numbers. When you shop online, you can ensure to keep your credit information safe by using virtual credit card numbers. These are limited use tokens that are linked to a credit card account generated by an extension for exclusive use during purchase. This will keep the credit card invalid anywhere else even if it is linked to an actual credit card account.
- Identity theft protection. This will provide 24/7 credit monitoring via programs for ID theft protection. Users are alerted whenever an inquiry is made, a fraudulent activity is suspected, or if scores are changed significantly.
Ways to make online purchases a lot safer
Here are 3 easy ways to get secured the next time you make online purchases.
- Surf on a safe site only. Remember that cybercriminals build fraudulent sites while posing as high-profile retailers online. You can check this out by seeing the ‘https’ at the beginning of the URL together with a small padlock symbol beside it. This means that your session with the website is secured.
- Beware of keyloggers. The use of keylogging programs can be activated by installing them after clicking on a popup or a link from a spam email accidentally. You can avoid this from happening by using premium Internet security solutions that often come with a safety feature called ‘virtual keyboard’.
- Use strong passwords. Note that hackers also use email addresses and passwords to break into online shopping sites. That can happen because people often use the same weak password for different accounts.
You can prevent this by creating strong passwords. Your anti-virus app also comes with security password manager that will enable a unique random password for every online account.
References:
https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/online-safety-basics/online-shopping/
https://www.firstcardpayments.com/chargeback-prevention-tips/