Grappling with Credit Card Fraud. Review on Avoiding Credit Card Fraud

For other useful articles and product reviews on Credit Cards you can visit https://simplybank.blogspot.com

Majority of the mails I receive on Ask.Pranav@Gmail.Com pertain to customers cribbing about Credit Card Frauds. This seems to be the most common problems Credit Card customers face, so I am doing a detailed, easy to understand write-up on this topic.

Having worked in 3 different banks, I feel pained at the hysteria with which customers call the Call Centre for erroneous transactions on their Credit Cards which they have not done, and the call centre executives are as clueless about how these customers can be helped(they do not have adequate training and are usually unaware of the complex chargeback processes defines by VISA / Mastercard), hence I dedicate this series of articles on combating Credit Card fraud to all those people who lose sleep over transactions on their credit card which they did not do.

For those who have not been through this situation, please realize that you may experience this anytime, even as you read this article, so please take the necessary precautions mentioned below. Feel free to forward this content to every Credit Card User you know, as I am sure it will be of help.

Majority of Credit Card Transaction Frauds in India happen due to one of the four scenarios mentioned below

(1) Careless with your Credit Card at the Petrol Pump or Restaurant …. someone noted down your 16 digit Credit Card Number, Credit Card Expiry Date and 3 digit CVV Number appearing on the reverse of your Card. This data is enough for an Internet Transaction

(2) You have lost your Card. Your wallet got flicked or you missed taking it back from the waiter at the restaurant. In some cases I have seen people leave it in the ATM itself after withdrawing cash

(3) You frequently book tickets at call centers like https://yatra.com or similar vendors who ask for your CVV numbers over the phone(I beg you to bear in mind that … the CVV number is not to be shared with anyone and you are better off scratching it off from the reverse of your Credit Card and writing it down somewhere else or storing it in your Mobile Phone against some unsuspicious name. I do that J

(4) You traveled abroad(especially countries like Malaysia or Thailand), visited night clubs or some shady joints where your Credit Card Magnetic Strip details were intercepted and the well networked fraudsters generated a duplicate card and used the same

If you are experiencing Scenario(2) do note that you are a forgetful person and please ensure that you do not use Credit Cards the rest of your life …. or a more practical suggestion would be to reduce the Credit Card Limit to an amount which you can afford to lose. If you set your Credit Card limit to Rs.20, 000 you can lose a maximum of Rs.20, 000 if you lose your Card

If you are experiencing Scenario(3), please be aware and make everyone around you aware that the 3 digit CVV number is not to be shared with anyone. You may punch it on the phone to authenticate the transaction, but please do not voice it out. You are digging your own grave by doing so.

I cannot blame you if you faced Scenario(1) and Scenario(4). But there are ways in which you can prevent the same. Do read on in the next article of this series.

For the complete Credit Card Fraud Series you will need to visit https://simplybank.