What To Do In Case Of A Stolen Credit Card
Unfortunately, it can be quite easy to lose one's credit cards physically though to have your credit card number stolen online is quite another ball game. When you send your credit card information over the Internet, you are at less risk of having your information illegally accessed than if you were to use the card physically and allow some prying eyes or nimble fingers rob you off your credit card information or the card itself. The fact of the matter is that the banking system is strong and secure enough to ensure that stolen credit cards are not something that can easily happen.
Don't Throw Receipts At Public Places
However, if you are careless and throw your receipts into a trashcan in a public place, the chances of your credit card number being stolen and accessed by unauthorized persons increase dramatically. That is not to suggest that credit cards used over the Internet are absolutely safe because hackers can and will gain unauthorized entry into databases - though fortunately, such instances are still pretty rare.
To ensure that thieves cannot use stolen credit card numbers, many of the current crops of e-commerce merchants are making a conscious effort to devise new techniques with which to protect sensitive credit card information. Thus, it becomes necessary for you to provide your CID number before your credit card can be processed. In addition, your maximum liability in case of stolen credit cards being used illegally will not amount to more than fifty dollars and the credit card companies usually forgive this amount.
However, if you are using a credit card from one of the big four credit card companies, you should expect certain amount of attendant risk because these companies are often made the target of credit card fraud. What's more, these companies generally won't admit to such possibilities because of course they don't want to dent consumer confidence in their service. A customer that doubts the safety of their credit cards will certainly not avail of a credit card from a company that cannot assure complete security of the card.
Nevertheless, if you find out that you have become a victim of a stolen credit card, you need to immediately contact the credit card issuer at a special telephone number and advise them about the loss of your credit card. As long as you take prompt and timely action, the credit card issuer can cancel the card before things get completely out of hand and thus minimize the loss to you on account of stolen credit card misuse.
