When it comes to credit card
fraud, the government has put in a number of measures to help protect the
customer. One of these measures happens to placing fraud alerts on financial
accounts which you suspect may be compromised. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions
Act (FACTA) allows victims of credit card fraud to place fraud alerts on their
accounts. This will stay operational until 90 days upon which you can extend it
for another 90 days if you feel it is required.
Now people might wonder what is
the real use behind filing fraud alerts for your account but answer to this
question lies in the details. And it is about what a scammer can do when he
gets hold of confidential financial information. For starters, he could your
finances to fund his own personal agenda and leave you to pay up a huge bill
running to thousands of dollars. On the other hand, he could do something that
could put you in more trouble. For instance, he could try to get credit by
filing an application in your name. Now if fraud alerts have already been placed, then you can feel safe about the fact that the creditor would ideally
check your credit card report before issuing any money. And when they see the
fraud alerts placed on your account, they can discreetly call the cops on the
scammer.
There have been cases where
scammers used stolen credit card details to conduct illegal business deals. And
in the end, the customer whose finances were used would end up getting in
trouble with the law. He or she would then have to spend thousands of dollars
in legal fees to get their name cleared, not to mention the humiliation of
being arrested or stress of going through the whole incident.
However, the problem will not be
solved just by placing fraud alerts. There are many ways to spend money without
attracting the attention of authorities. So if you feel your online accounts
have been truly compromised, you must also consider freezing your account and
getting new account details issued. This way, you can atleast limit whatever
damage could occur in the future.
It would also be a good idea to
head to the nearest police station and report the issue to them. In addition to
placing fraud alerts, it makes sense to approach the cops for help since many
stations now have their own dedicated cyber wing. This way, two agencies will
be simultaneously handling your cases and that will improve your odds of
finding the game.
On the other hand, you can always
avoid credit card fraud by being that extra bit cautious. For instance, avoid
making online platforms on Public hot spots which are known to crawl with
hackers and tech addicts. They can easily hack into your system and then watch
you make online payments in real time. You also need to invest in high quality
software to prevent malware and spyware from infecting your system. By
following these simple precautions you can easily remains safe and secure.
If you are looking to know more about internet safety tips, all you
need to do is visit www.bigscammers.com and get all the latest updates.
