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Credit card scams ... Are you safe?
Scam: To trick or cheat someone out of their possession(s). A ripoff.
The internet is littered with scams such as pop-up ads or e-mail spam ads with "Get Rich Quick/High-Paying Jobs/You Are A Winner" messages. The use of credit cards has become so routine, one does not often think of the dangers.
When entering (Credit Card Scam) on the Google search engine, there are 39,800,000 sites with information regarding fraud. Predators and thieves have preyed on unsuspecting soles, to the tune of an estimated $52 billion this past year.
One such scam, called "triangulation," happened when an unsuspecting customer purchased an item via an on-line auction. The seller required a money order payment. As it turned out, items the original seller purchased on-line from Amazon.com were paid for with stolen credit cards. The thief was able to turn the stolen credit card numbers into cash, by purchasing items using the stolen numbers, then selling them on-line to an unsuspecting buyer for payment of cash.
Another unavoidable scam, is called "card tumbling" with the thief electronically using math variables to generate a sequence of numbers. Much like a locksmith, each number is tumbled until a correct sequence finally falls into place. They test it and the culprit has your card number to go shopping.
The list of scams and the length which predators go to steal your money and or your identity is endless.
In May 2008, U.S. News and World Report reported recent scams which work like this: A fraudster, claiming to be from the security department of a credit card company, tells the consumer he is checking unusual account activity. He may even offer a badge number. Then, he tells the consumer that a fake purchase, such as an $800 television from Best Buy, has been made on the card.
When the consumer says he did not make that purchase, the scammer explains that he is starting a fraud investigation and gives the consumer a "confirmation" number. He says he needs to verify that the consumer has the credit card and asks for the three numbers on the back of the card, known as the card identification number. He may already have the consumer's address and card number and that verification code lets the fraudster ring up charges on the card.
There are news media and Internet reports published almost daily of new inventive ways and the lengths which criminals will go to steal credit card information.
Listed below are some important steps and helpful reminders, which could help be secure with card cards.
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