Credit Card Fraud - Part III

In this article we're going to discuss what to do if you are the victim of credit card fraud or if you want to do what you can to minimize the risk of being such a victim.

One of the best things you can do to prevent credit card fraud is switch to cards like the American Express Blue Card. What American Express does it centralize its transaction verification and Merchant Account tracking. This makes their cards much more fraud resistant. Also, because Visa and Mastercard have the majority of the credit card market, this makes American Express a less likely target. In most cases of American Express fraud, which are relatively rare, the customers are reimbursed immediately and without question. Also, American Express has much more friendly customer service procedures for handling fraud problems. In 2002 they added what are called Amex Private Payments, which are one time use disposable credit card numbers. This virtually makes fraud impossible unless the card is lost or stolen. And then it is simply a matter of reporting it in time.

Another thing you can do is go to a firm that handles refund requests. Most of these are appointed by Federal Agencies that investigate fraud. These firms specialize in this type of litigation and will be most qualified to handle your complaint as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. The majority of fraud complaints handled by these firms rule in favor of the plaintiff.

Unfortunately there are times when your only recourse is to cancel your credit card and change banks. Usually what happens when a card number is stolen is that the issuing bank is unable to block continuing transactions. In this case canceling the card won't be enough because banks usually carry over charges from one card to another. So in order to completely clean up your account you may have to change banks as well. This will all depend on how good your bank is at blocking charges, especially if your card has been widely circulated.

Another thing you can do is phone the FTC hotline number for credit card fraud. They have been set up to deal with this problem specifically. There is also a form that you can fill out online to determine if you are eligible for a refund.

A problem that you may run into is that some banks will refuse to reimburse charges that are over 60 days old. If this happens your only recourse is to report the bank to the Federal authorities and let them handle the problem.

When looking for a new bank, or for that matter a first bank to get your first card, look for one that has a good anti fraud record. This information is available online and through several agencies of the FTC.

Use as few credit cards as possible. The fewer cards you use the less chance of being victim of fraud. Also try to use your cards as little as possible.

Check your credit card statements carefully to make sure that there are no charges that don't belong there and request credit reports so that you can see if there has been any unusual activity on your account.

By doing the above things you will greatly minimize the risk of being the victim of fraud and have the best chance of being refunded should a fraud occur.