Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
A recent study revealed that, amid the global financial crisis, the US primary fear is the credit card fraud and debit. 68% of respondents are extremely or very concerned about the security of their credit or debit card information, and 66% are extremely or very concerned about identity theft.
Compare this to 58% are extremely or very concerned about terrorism and war, and 41% who fear the possibility of a serious health epidemic.
Credit card fraud is available in two flavors: recovery account and new account fraud. Account recovery occurs when the identity thief gains access to your credit or debit card number through criminal hacking, dumpster diving, ATM skimming, or perhaps when you hand it to pay in a store or restaurant. Technically, account recovery is the most common form impersonation, although I've always believed that fraud simply by credit card.
Federal law restricts the holder liability to $ 50 for 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 in order to be protected by this $ 50 limit. After that, the maximum liability goes to $ 500. 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.
Protect yourself from the account recovery is relatively easy. Just pay attention to your statements every month and refute unauthorized charges immediately. I check my expenses online once every two weeks. If I travel a lot, especially outside the country, I let the credit card company know in advance, so that they will not close my card while I'm on the road.
Protecting against the new account fraud requires more effort. You can try to protect your own identity, getting you a credit freeze, or setting up your own fraud alerts. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Another good option is to invest in identity protection against theft, because when all else fails, you have someone watching your back.
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.