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Take the time to follow these rules.
1. Check your bank statements often
As time is of the essence to receive full fraud protection from your bank, make it a habit to review your bank account online at least once a week or even daily.
2. Protect your PIN number
Don’t give your personal identification number (PIN) to anyone who asks, and don’t keep it written down anywhere in your purse or wallet. Don’t use your PIN at the gas pump. Instead, use your card in the credit purchase function to avoid someone seeing it. In fact, using your debit card in credit card mode may offer you extra liability protection, depending on your bank.
3. Consider avoiding debit card use online
Some consumers choose to use only credit cards online, because a fraudulent credit card transaction takes more time for your bank to process and can become an item of dispute rather than an instant removal of cash from your checking account. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco recommends checking for a security symbol, such as an unbroken key or a padlock, on each website before you order anything because these symbols mean your information will be encrypted and therefore safer.
4. Only use ATMs at a bank
Automated teller machines (ATMs) located in convenience stores, subway stations, airports, and other places have a greater risk of having a “skimming” device attached by a thief, which could intercept and store your debit card data. This sometimes happens at banks, too, but it is easier to do in a place without surveillance cameras.
5. Don’t use public wireless access for financial transactions
Make sure you are using a password-protected wireless signal to check your bank account balance, pay bills, and shop, so that hackers have less chance to capture your password and account information.
6. Report problems immediately
While you would certainly report it right away if your wallet were stolen and your credit and debit cards were missing, you should also report any unauthorized transactions immediately.
7. Consider filing a police report
If your debit card is stolen, you may want to contact the police and keep a copy of the police report, so that you have extra support when you want your bank to reimburse the charges.
8. Create your own security profile
As long as you remember the answers, you can make up anything you want for your security questions. Using a pet’s name or your mother’s maiden name makes it too easy for cons to get into your account. The answers just have to be consistent; they don’t have to be true.
1. Practice credit card protection from day one
Sign the back of a new card right away. This protects you if the card falls into someone else’s hands. Turn on suspicious activity alerts, and spend a few minutes working on your password and PIN for the account.
When choosing passwords for your credit card accounts, remember to create a strong one that’s unique to each account—don’t use the same password for your bank account and retail sites—and take advantage of multifactor authentication when it’s offered.
If your account also requires a PIN, do not choose a number that you use for other purposes or that is personal to you, such as your birthday or digits from your Social Security number.
2. Keep your account number private
Don’t let anyone see your card when you’re out in public. Be selective when giving your account number over the phone; only offer it when you initiate the call and you’re talking to a bank or merchant you trust. Be suspicious of messages you receive over email, text, phone or social media, asking you to give personal information or click a suspicious link.
Consider paperless statements and making payments online to remove your sensitive information from the postal system. It’s also a good idea to shred documents with sensitive personal information before you trash them.
3. Keep your information current
Notify your bank if you move. That way your statements and other information will follow you to your new address and won’t end up in anyone else’s hands.
Sign up for alerts with your financial institutions and check to make sure you’ve provided your current phone number and email so they can reach you quickly in the event of fraud or suspicious activity. Make sure you also understand how your financial institution will send alerts. You may be able to choose whether you want to be contacted by text, email or phone call.
4. Be careful with your receipts
If there is extra space on your receipt, draw a line through it so no one can write in any additional numbers. It’s also a good idea to check your receipts against your account to spot potentially fraudulent transactions fast. Finally, don’t just throw out any duplicates or old receipts. Shred the ones you don’t need and securely file the rest.
5. Secure your devices and networks
If you allow your browser to store your credit card number, you could be vulnerable. To prevent this, consider turning off the Autofill function in each browser that you use.
In addition, think about using a digital wallet, a payment system housed on your smartphone that makes it possible to conduct electronic transactions using your credit cards. Because digital wallets use encryption, tokenization and authentication, they have the potential to be safer than carrying a credit card. If you use a digital wallet, make your smartphone hard to unlock by requiring a passcode and fingerprint, where possible, and download an app to help you find your phone in case you lose it.
6. Protect yourself online
You’re probably already practicing basic online and mobile safety, but consider taking these credit card-specific measures as well:
Know your merchant. When shopping online, look for sites with “https” in their web addresses (the “s” stands for “secured”) and the green lock icon; make sure the URL includes the correct company’s name, rather than a close-but-not-correct version; and, even on a secured site, share your information only if you know how it will be used.
Type for each transaction. Never allow your credit card number to be stored on an online shopping site.
Add a layer. Consider using an online payment system or mobile payment service like PayPal, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Android Pay to keep your credit card number out of the hands of merchants, so that if a merchant is hacked, it can’t leak your account number.
Watch out for public Wi-Fi. Don’t shop or conduct financial transactions, including checking your accounts, using public Wi-Fi. Because it’s a public network, your information can easily be viewed by anyone.
7. Check your account often
Reviewing your recent account activity is fundamental to credit card safety—and it’s easy to do. You can do it using the bank’s app, online or over the phone. Most card issuers also let you set up email or text alerts to inform you and your issuer about unusual activity. If you’ve been a victim of fraud or identity theft in the past, consider signing up with a credit-monitoring service.
8. Report lost cards and suspected fraud right away
If you lose your credit card or suspect fraudulent activity, contact your bank or credit card issuer right away. They can block your card and account number so no one else can use them and provide you with a new card and account number.
Conclusion
While you may find constantly using a debit card to be a great convenience, it won’t be so convenient if someone manages to drain your checking account. A little vigilance and some new habits can go a long way toward preventing a damaging debit card experience.
