It can be a cumbersome process to get a reversal from your credit card company. Pain of injustice usually becomes strong enough for anyone to go through with the associated hassle. Because not only for unauthorized transactions, you can suffer the agony of waiting to see the final decision of the credit card company even on transactions with shady merchants who don’t give you what you bought.
It is this silent period of waiting that is most agonizing. You keep calling the credit company to get the case officer to call you but the call never comes. They will only send you template responses by email and snail mail. Presumably the people working on these cases are important people who have no time at all to add a personal touch to client communications. You wonder how they can investigate a reversal request without ever speaking to you in person.
Well to avoid suffering like the above mentioned scenario, you can simply take good care of yourself and your belongings. It is really not that difficult to avoid carelessness. The effort taken to be that little more diligent is nothing compared to the misery of trying to win a case for chargeback. This is even when you feel that you are obviously the victim. Here are 10 tips that will easily make you a tough nut to crack for a fraudster.
1) Report a missing card immediately
It takes about 2 seconds for someone to rack up unauthorized purchases on your card. The good thing is that these days, card issuers have dedicated lines that are available 24 hours a day to attend to loss reports. Prompt action with reporting is paramount to keeping yourself safe. Remember to keep a record of your police reports and report to issuer.
2) Check your statements
Most people with active card usage will just look at the outstanding amount in a credit card statement and make the payment. If you do not match your own receipts against your transactions, you really cannot blame anybody but yourself for being a victim. Always check to make sure everything tallies and report errors immediately.
3) Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Never write down your PIN number. It is just 6 digits. So you are unable to memorize it, you have a different problem altogether. Also avoid using your birthday or phone number as the PIN. And please, no ”123456”. PIN numbers are not there just for the sake of it. Take responsibility to make them unique which cannot be easily guessed.
4) Do not reveal your card number
Unless you are calling a customer service hotline, you should never reveal your card details especially over the phone. These days even charging your card over unsecured wireless networks are not safe. Ideally, no one in the world should ever have the detail of your personal cards except for you.
5) Bring what is necessary on travels
With the many reward programs available these days from different banks, it is not uncommon for someone to amass more than 10 different cards for themselves. Although this can be an ego boost or a social status to some people, you do not have to bring all of them along your travels. Because traveling is often a hectic experience unless you are a billionaire with a full-time butler to carry your baggage, you are prone to losses due to negligence. Criminals also often target tourist for theft. You do not have to bring all your cards with you on your travels. Just bring what you need.
6) Keep your credit card in view
When you are making payments in retail shops, make sure to keep your card in sight to prevent skimming. All a crook needs to do is take a couple of photos to make fraudulent transactions on it. And we know how everyone these days have a camera with them all the time. All it takes is a few seconds out of view to make these copies.
7) Signature
There is a reason why signatures are required on the back of credit cards. This is so that merchants can do a quick signature verification to ensure that the user is the real owner. But nowadays people often ignore signing on them immediately on receipt. Add your signature to add an extra layer of protection from fraud.
8) Online shopping
When buying online, only transact with merchants of good reputation. Or at least only purchase when there are third party reputable payment processors facilitating the transfer of funds. Legitimate online retailers will have contact information including telephone numbers, physical addresses, emails, etc.
9) Terms of card
Some issuers of specific cards have special guarantees that protect consumers like you. These guarantees can include damages in transit, failure of delivery, or even free insurance. Read the terms and conditions regarding your contract to if they offer such benefits and perks. For example, a benefit could include free travel insurance when air tickets are bought via a card. In this case, you can take advantage by using that for your purchases.
10) Beware of phishing
Even to this day, people are getting conned into revealing their credit details online or over the phone. The fact that we are still receiving these scam emails everyday is prove that they must still be working. Remember that no company will ever ask you to key in your credit card information via emails. Any email asking for that is certain to originate with bad intentions.