Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Credit card fraud is available in two different flavors: recovery account and new account fraud. Account takeover occurs when access to the identity thief gains to your credit or debit card number through criminal hacking, dumpster diving, ATM skimming, or perhaps simply give you more time to pay in a store or restaurant. Technically, account recovery is the most common form of identity theft. I have always considered fraud simply by credit card instead of "identity theft" in its truest sense.
New account fraud, regarding credit cards, occurs when someone accesses your personal identification information, including your name, address and, more importantly, your security number social. With these data, a thief can open a new account and have the card sent to a different address. This is true of identity theft. Once the identity thief receives the new card, he or she maxes out and does not pay the bill. Over time, creditors track down the victim, accused him unpaid bills and require the due funds. New account fraud destroys the victim's credit and is a mess to clean.
victims of account recovery are likely to uncover fraud in many ways. They may notice suspicious charges on a credit card statement or credit card company may notice charges that appear unusual in the context of the established spending habits of the victim. Credit card companies have a security detection software that monitors transactions by credit card for red flags. For example, if you hand your credit card to an attendant of the gas station in Boston at noon, then a current card purchase is made from a small village in Romania an hour later, a red flag is raised. Common sense tells you that you can not possibly get from Boston to Romania in one hour. The software knows.
Victims of account recovery meander only pay fraudulent charges if they do not detect and report the crime within 60 days. A day window 6o covers two billing cycles, which should be sufficient for most conscious account of consumers who keep an eye on their spending. Meanwhile, you are covered by a "zero liability policy", which was invented by the credit card companies to reduce online fraud fears. Under this policy, the cardholder may be responsible for up to $ 50.00 in fees, but most banks to extend coverage to charges under $ 50.00. After 60 days, however, you are out of luck. So, pay attention to your statements. As you do, account recovery should not hurt you financially.
But the new account fraud is another story - one that can and will hurt you if you do not protect yourself. You can not be held financially responsible for costs themselves, but you will pay in time and time is money. In some cases, you can pay lawyers and private investigators, or you may need to take time off from work, depending on how mean your credit situation becomes. Identity theft victims have been denied credit because of unpaid debts to their names, and missed opportunities to buy homes as a result.
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. You really should choose one of these options.
And of course, invest in identity theft protection.
Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses identity thieves.
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.