Protect Your Credit Accounts: Take the Credit Safety Challenge

Protecting your credit is vital because the fraudsters (and scammers) are out to steal your money, identity, and sense of security.

They’re succeeding, too. In 2023, Americans lost $5 billion to credit card fraud, and the crooks claimed 52 million citizens as victims. As with most crimes, the problem will likely only worsen.

Of course, the victims aren’t to blame, especially regarding fraud. With fraud, which is not the same as a scam, the criminal makes a secret, illegal, and unauthorized credit transaction using a victim’s credit card information.

In a scam, the victim is fooled into sending money to the scammer, thinking the transaction is essential and legitimate.

You want to protect your credit accounts from fraud as best as possible. You can do that by limiting exposing your credit card numbers to websites or merchants that aren’t trustworthy. Also, the better you safeguard your accounts and numbers, the less likely criminals will use your credit information and credentials to make purchases for themselves, causing you a world of headaches and grief.

Getting credit cards can be easy. Maybe too easy.

Credit cards and credit accounts can be good or bad depending on who you talk to about personal finances. Credit card issuers are eager to sign up as many new customers as they can. Ideally, from the card providers’ perspective, they want customers to use their cards often and carry a balance from month to month. That way, they make money through interest charges assessed on the outstanding monthly balance.

Without credit cards or credit lines, it would be difficult for many people to buy the items they need to get by.  Of course, with too much credit and easy access to purchasing power, some consumers get over their heads. That’s another story for another time.

Managing only one credit card is a responsibility to take seriously. Having multiple credit cards only magnifies the challenge…and opens the door to credit card troubles.

Such as credit card fraud.

Protecting your credit is the hard part…and extremely important.

To the average person, managing their credit cards means paying their bills on time every month to avoid late fees and dents to their credit rating.

However, other aspects of credit card management are more important than making on-time payments:

• Protecting your credit card credentials.
• Preventing your credit accounts from being used by criminals behind your back.
• Monitoring your accounts actively to ensure charges aren’t being made that you didn’t authorize.

Take the credit safety challenge.

The infographic in this article outlines the seven steps to credit card safety. It is a beneficial, practical, and important guide for strengthening credit protections.

The truth is that too few people take all or any of these steps to protect themselves. Each step helps you build a wall to keep criminals out of your accounts and lets you know when something might be going wrong regarding your credit.

The more steps you take, the better your chances are to prevent losses, maintain your good credit history, and avoid being assessed charges you did not authorize.

Let’s expand on each of these critical points from the infographic:

Use the security alerts and features offered by credit card providers.

Many cardholders think something bad will never happen to them. That’s simply wishful thinking. Explore your credit cards’ security features and “enable” (activate and use) as many as possible. For instance, you can have your provider text you any time there’s a transaction over a set amount. For that matter, you can have them send a text any time there’s any transaction on your card.

Is that bothersome or annoying? Not really. It can be reassuring to know your provider is aware of every transaction that takes place. If a criminal were trying to make a purchase instead of you, you’d know immediately.

Do you have alerts on your most important cards?

Review all your monthly credit card statements. This may seem like a waste of time, but unless you review what was charged to each account every month, you might never know that a criminal has been committing credit fraud on your accounts!

Think of it like a data breach of a large organization you hear on the news—companies typically discover the breach months after it happens and after data has been stolen.

Keep in mind that credit fraud is not the only issue. You might have been charged twice for an item, or a refund you were due never happened. Late fees, over-the-limit fees, and other expenses might also pop up. Every mistake overlooked could affect your credit score and access to credit. 

When was the last time you reviewed all your credit card monthly statements?

Use PayPal or a similar cardless transaction system for extra security.

If you don’t use PayPal already, you should look into its features and benefits…especially if you shop online or use community marketplaces.

PayPal is an app that allows you to send money (a payment) to someone without revealing your credit card account number. Not only does that help protect your accounts, but it also offers purchase protection features should there be a dispute afterward. Using a payment app, you never reveal your card number to a stranger or a company you’ve not shopped with before.

PayPal and payment systems are becoming more common, and they’ve proven to be reliable. You can lose a credit card or forget it at a store or restaurant, but you can’t lose PayPal.

Think about using PayPal or another payment app more often.

Shred every credit card statement (and credit offer) you get in the mail.

Many people still prefer to get a credit card statement in the mail making it a little bit harder to protect your credit. It’s probably because a physical statement that arrives in a mailbox is easy to review. (Admit it, how often are you aware that you received a text or email saying, “Your online monthly statement is ready to review.”) Getting a statement in the regular mail isn’t a bad thing. However, what is a mistake is tossing those monthly credit statements into the trash or recycling bin without shredding them first.

Just think about the information on your credit statement, starting with your name, home address, the card provider (Visa, MasterCard, American Express), the type of credit card it is (Amazon, airline rewards, etc.), and your balance. You do not want all that information in a stranger’s hands.

Credit providers want us to open more credit accounts and spend more (or at least use their cards to pay for expenses). They bombard us with credit card offers through regular mail. Shred every card offer you receive. You can also ask the provider to take your name off their mailing lists so the offers stop coming in.

How consistent are you at shredding monthly credit card statements?

Use a “digital wallet” and leave your credit cards at home.

The digital cash app PayPal mentioned above is classified as a digital wallet, although most people use it primarily for online shopping. Two other well-known digital wallets are Apple Pay and Google Wallet. As you might guess, Apple Pay is tied to iPhones, MacBook computers, and other devices from Apple Inc., while Google Wallet is tied to Android phones and the Google Chrome platform.

Once you link your credit accounts and other everyday services to one of these wallets, you will rarely have to carry a credit card, debit card, or event tickets again.

With a digital wallet, you can pay for anything online or in person with your smartphone.

Here’s another benefit: digital wallet transactions are well protected due to the added built-in encryption. Better still, these apps can’t be used by people other than you, thanks to the login protections smartphones and platforms use and offer.

You can connect many of your major credit card and bank accounts to the wallet for your convenience. (If you’re new to the concept of digital wallets, here is a YouTube video that offers a great explanation.)

Have you used a digital wallet to pay for items at a retail store?

Put your credit on ice.

Credit fraud occurs when a criminal makes charges on your account without your knowledge or approval or opens a loan or credit card account in your name. Those two events can’t happen if your credit is frozen.

There are two ways to look at the notion of freezing credit: 1) freezing individual credit cards and accounts selectively and 2) freezing your credit report with the three major credit bureaus, which are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Here is the difference between the two freeze options and the key thing to know.

Freezing your credit reports with the credit bureaus (sometimes called a security freeze) prevents anyone, including you, from opening a new credit account in your name. Freezing your credit reports isn’t difficult to do if you’re interested. Just know it does NOT prevent credit fraud on your open credit accounts.

Freezing an individual credit account (a bank Visa Card or a retail credit card, for example) prevents any new purchases from being made on that account during the freeze. You can freeze and unfreeze an account through the card provider’s website. You can freeze a card if you suspect you lost it or want to limit its usage.

Freezing your credit reports prevents fraudulent account openings.

Review your credit reports. Under Federal law, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. Reviewing your credit report will not only help protect your credit history from mistakes, but it could also help you spot instances of possible identity theft.

You’ll find information on the Federal Trade Commission website at FTC.gov/free-credit reports. From there, you can get the link to the free annual credit reports (and more) at AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also gain access to your credit reports through paid services offered by the credit bureaus themselves. Do a Google search on “getting a credit report” to find many options.

Follow the Easy Prey podcast.

On the Easy Prey podcast, hosted by WhatIsMyIPAddress.com CEO Chris Parker, you’ll find several episodes where experts are interviewed on credit fraud, scams, and identity theft. Click the link below to learn more.