March 7th, 2010 | 
Author:
According to Homeland Security, credit card fraud can cost as much as $500 million per year. Consumers are using their credit cards more, which increases the pool that fraudsters can target. When card fraud happens, we all pay for it. Credit card companies increase fees such as the charge back fees and these are passed down to the consumer. Consumers must be extra vigilant when using their credit cards and even more careful when maintaining their financial information.
How can you prevent paying for card fraud?
Even though prevention methods have been issued over the years, millions of us only practice some of the safety measures.
We have been told not to carry all our credit cards with us, but how many of us still do. We rationalise that if my credit cards are at home and my home is burgled, I would be no better off. However if my purse is with me at least I could guard it at all times.
Based on the US Department of Justice report which stated there were 2,154,126 burglaries in 2005 compared to 417,122 robberies nationwide for the same year, I can see your point. But why not use a safe or safety deposit box to store your credit cards. Alternatively you can carry your credit cards in a bag or pouch separate from you purse or wallet.
Fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, and although most credit card fraud occurs online, there are some pretty ingenious ways to commit fraud offline as well. Here are some tips to take note of.
When you use your card and it is returned to you, make sure you check the card carefully. Consumers have been faced with huge bills that were made using their credit cards that were stolen without their knowing. This happens when you pass your card to a merchant to pay for goods and your card is switched with an identical expired card that belong to another person.
Some fraudsters are bold enough to pose as staff at restaurants and sidewalk cafes and without you seeing, simply walk off with your card when you hand it over to pay for a meal. Do not let your credit card out of your site at all. Let your attendant bring a portable card machine to you or make your way to the till to pay for your items.
If you complete a credit card application that you did not post, make sure you shred or burn it. Fraudsters are not beyond searching through your garbage to find items such as credit card receipts, old check books or anything that can give them personal information about you.
There are many other tips for credit card safety; these are just a few to remind you of the need for safety. While the credit card companies try to implement safety measures like chip and pin, the responsibility lies with you the consumer to guard and protect your credit card.
Anthony Samuel
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/who-pays-for-credit-card-fraud-99668.html
Credit Card Fraud. Who pays the fraudulent charge, the Credit Union or the Company that charged me?
I had an unauthorized transaction to my account recently. I called my Credit Union and they did very little. They told me I had to contact the company that charged my account and provided the number for the company. Other then that, that’s all they did. I would assume that they would have to contact them or handle the situation. I would have assumed they would have wanted to lock this account and flag it for fraud and transfer everything to a new account while eliminating this fraudulent charge form my account. But thy didn’t do any of that.
So I had contacted the company that charged my account. Apparently the info didn’t match my residency. But they have to send it to their fraud department which apparently you don’t get to talk to. Well I was told I would receive a call in 3 days. Not business days but 3 days. Well today was the 5th day so I called them. Now I was told that they do not call but email me instead and one of their two people that handle this was out for the week so their behind and I should hear back by the end of the week.
Now I do not know why I am having to do all the leg work and hassle. It should be a simple call the bank/credit union and a form to fill out. So why am I having to take time out of my busy schedule for this, especially when it could be a simple billing error that seems to also cause these headaches every now and then.
Whom is responsible for the charges? Would it be the Credit Union or the Company that charged my account? And am I supposed to have to do all this leg work or is it the Credit Unions responsibility?
ultimately with any financially institution whether it be a bank or a credit union, the brunt of the responsiblity lies with the account holder. theses institutions are only faciltators of your funds, they may reimburse you first and research it but in the end if they find no fault with the merchant the funds will be taken back out. if you suspect fraud go ahead and have them close the checking and open up a new checking, this will stop that merchant or any other party from withdrawing funds from that account.
References :
worked in bank and credit unions.