As much as we hate to state the obvious, the fact remains that in an age where you can get help with council tax debt by merely asking for it online, your financial and personal information is not absolutely safe. The rate at which criminals and scammers alike are breaching people’s credit card defenses these days is quite alarming, and if you think for once that you are exempted from this unfortunate situation because you seldom use your credit card, then you may be in for quite a surprise. So, does that mean there is no way around your credit card safety? Not exactly! There are ways to prevent hackers from targeting your credit cards, and we will share some with you in this post.
Set Up notifications
If you know about it beforehand, you can put a stop to it, right? Such is the concept upon which this tip is based. In order to prevent criminals from hacking your credit card details, all you need to do is stay on top of your credit card situation – by being alert.
Thankfully, we now live in an age where one can do absolutely anything with their mobile phones, so setting up financial notifications is now easier than ever. Set up alerts to be made via an email or an SMS when a transaction is made. To further improve your card safety, you can even set up monthly confirmation repayment and notifications, letting you know if the credit limit is exceeded. With notifications like these, you can always tell when an unsanctioned transaction has been conducted, and immediately you can alert your credit card company about the breach so that they can halt the transaction.
Go mobile
Indeed, with a well-defined IVA explanation, you can always resolve any debt you have. But, would you like to resolve a debt you’ve incurred as a result of criminal activity? Don’t think so! Therefore, you need to utilize every tool available at your disposal to ensure that your credit card details are protected from scammers and hackers alike. And one essential tool is the mobile technology tool.
Nowadays, you don’t even need to go about with your cards anymore. Instead, all you need to do is use platforms like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and other smartphone-based payment services to make contactless payments. Once you scan your credit cards with your phone camera, the details will be read and saved by the app and store, thereby allowing you to make contactless payments whenever you want to make purchases.
Always use an RFID-blocking wallet
If at all you feel the need to always go about with your credit cards, it’s recommended that you get an RFID-blocking card wallet so as to protect you from falling prey to the infamous act of RFID pick-pocketing. Most cards, nowadays, come with RFID and NFC technology, so as to aid contactless transactions, but unfortunately, hackers have been able to exploit this technology using a portable RFID device to steal your payment details and transfer money from your card to another person close-by. But with an RFID-blocking wallet, your card will be protected against these activities.
Password strength is key
As much as we love to buy things online, bank online, and apply for different financial packages online, we need to note that there are always hackers lurking in the shadows, waiting for a loophole to pounce on. Therefore, you cannot underestimate their abilities to exploit your card details. As a general rule of thumb, always create a tight, secure, and safe password for your banking and credit accounts. For better safety, you can even put a two-factor authentication (2FA) in use, with an access code sent to your smartphone or email account.
Never let your card out of your sight
The greatest risk you can run with your credit card is to let it out of your sight. Therefore, the biggest free debt advice I can give you is that you shouldn’t use a credit card if you are bad at keeping things safe because misplacing your card or leaving it in wrong hands can run you into debt, or at the very least make you pay for things you didn’t even purchase.
Even if these criminals don’t have your passwords or the needed pins to activate your card or sanction a transaction, always remember that they can clone your card – they are hackers after all, and cloning is one of their fortes. If you ever let your card out of your sight, these hackers have no problem cloning all your data from your card and saving it on a blank card.
Only shop on secure platforms
Online transaction is a big deal nowadays. And as such, before you activate any transaction on any digital platform, always check the safety, security, and trustworthiness of the platform. Typically, a secure website or digital platform should have an “HTTPS” written before the site name, and this is to show that the transaction is taking place over a secure and encrypted connection.