Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
There are 437 million debit cards outstanding, and their use is on the rise. Criminal hackers are paying attention. Credit cards offer some protection, but when a debit card is compromised, the stolen money is taken directly from the bank account of the victim.
Federal laws limit the liability holder to $ 50.00 in the case of credit card fraud, as long as the cardholder disputes the charge within 60 days. Debit card fraud victims must notify the bank within two days to maintain this limit of $ 50.00. After that, the maximum liability goes to $ 500.00. And if the victim did not discover or report the fraud after 60 days have passed, the responsibility could be the balance of the entire card, a debit or credit card. Once your debit card is compromised, you might not know until a check bounces or the card is rejected. And once you collect the money, the thief can simply start over, unless you cancel the account altogether.
There are some known scams that can make you vulnerable to fraud by debit card.
There is the bait. When making a purchase online, you can be asked to make an additional purchase that seems to be a one time fee, but is in fact a continuous monthly levy which is almost impossible to cancel. That's in case of cancellation of your card is the only way out. Although it is not technically criminal hacking, it is very viscous marketing. The best way to protect yourself against this is to always read the fine print before making an online purchase. Just be smart.
Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably received a phishing email at some point. Hackers, aided by teams of psychologists and sociologists, design and sale of phishing kits to another. They know what makes you tick, and they know what will convince you to click on a link. These people are professionals. They used to give a day with spelling errors and obvious differences, but now they are organized and sophisticated. And as more people are going paperless and get their bank statements online, it is becoming increasingly common for criminals to take advantage of this process, sending emails that appear to be notifications of states. If you think an email is phishing, delete it immediately. And do not click on links in emails. Either manually enter the link into the address bar, or use your bookmarks menu.
According to the Secret Service, skimming is one of the fastest growing crimes in the financial industry. According to the Association of the ATM industry more than a billion dollars in annual global losses from credit card fraud and electronic crime associated with ATMs. A skimmer is a hardware device that a thief puts on the face of an ATM, which is the machine itself. It is almost impossible for a civilian to notice the difference unless the skimmer is of poor quality, or civilian has a unique eye for safety. Often, thieves set up a small pinhole camera somewhere near the ATM, perhaps in a brochure holder to record the PIN of the victim. Fuel pumps are equally vulnerable to this scam. Be very careful at ATM transactions and the gas pump. If something seems wrong, it is wrong. Search double-stick tape, removable features on the front of the ATM, card paste inside the player, or additional mirrors or brochure holders that may contain a small camera.
You can also try to protect you against the new account fraud. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief. And invest in identity theft protection. All forms of protection against identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses ATM skimming on Fox News and fraud by credit card on CNBC.
Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an expert on identity theft, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 and start-up companies as a consultant on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. the thoughts and advice of Siciliano on all these issues often appear in both television and print media news, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of safety training as a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on high alert; How to take control of your personal safety and to prevent fraud . He also established a partnership with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness of the growing threat of identity theft and provide tips on how you can protect yourself.