• Keep your card details confidential
  • Don’t store card details online
  • Change magnetic strip cards to EMV-chip based ones
  • Watch out while swiping cards at POS terminals

As India moves towards a digital and cashless economy, the popularity of credit cards has swelled up by leaps and bounds. Today, it’s not uncommon to find people owning more than one card. While the number of credit card users have gone up in recent years, so are the cases of credit card frauds.

Flip pages of newspapers or browse the Internet and you will find reports of people falling prey to credit card frauds. If you own a credit card, these simple steps will help you keep fraudsters at bay.

Never Share Your Card’s Details with Anybody

It’s in your best interest to not share your credit card details such as the card number, PIN, expiry date and CVV number with anybody, not even with your acquaintances. Make sure these details are known only to you.

Sharing these confidential details with known or unknown people make your vulnerable to frauds. Often imposters identifying themselves as bank officials or card issuance executives make calls asking for these details. Disconnect such calls immediately and inform the police authorities at the earliest.

Don’t Store Card Details Online

In the age of e-commerce, storing card details online is a common phenomenon. This is because people don’t want to get into the hassles of entering card details every time they make a purchase. Fraudsters take advantage of this habit to wipe out or transfer money from accounts.

When you store card details online, there are every chances of these details getting leaked if the website doesn’t have robust data encryption. So, the best way to go about it is to enter card details every time you make a purchase online. Also, make sure the website starts with https and has a keypad lock.

Use EMV-chip Based Cards

If you hold a magnetic strip credit card, it’s time to change it to an EMV-chip based one. As per the recent directive of the Reserve Bank of India, all magnetic debit and credit cards will have to be upgraded to EMV-chip based cards. While the deadline for it was 31st December 2018, if you are yet to change your magnetic card, you must do it immediately.

EMV-chip based cards offer better security and storage by using high standards of data encryption. Also, customer-related information in an EMV card is stored in a dynamic format which makes it more secure and difficult to clone.

Remain Vigilant While Swiping Your Card at a Point of Sale Terminal

While swiping your credit card at a point of sale (POS) terminal at a merchant outlet, remain vigilant and take a note of your surroundings. Make sure no one is watching you while you are entering your PIN for a transaction. It’s a good idea to check the POS terminal before swiping to find out the presence of any suspicious device.

Scamsters often use card skimmers at these terminals to steal card information and conduct fraudulent transactions. In case you find something fishy, bring it immediately to the notice of the concerned authorities.

Make sure to have your contact number updated with your card issuance provider to get instant updates about transactions. In case of a fraudulent transaction, immediately block your card and get in touch with the bank or the card issuance company at the earliest.