Fact: credit card fraud is inevitable and the world is full of scammers. Reports show that approximately 41-percent of Americans have faced credit card fraud (including debit and prepaid cards). The news is full of stories of consumers and businesses falling victim to credit card fraud. There are a few easy solutions for fraud prevention, especially since over half of the victims of fraud engage in what is called “risky behavior”. Want to stay safe at your business? Avoid these 5 risky behaviors:
- Leaving smartphones unlocked and unattended. Locking your phone protects it from being hacked through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you have been hacked before, you might need to apply for a high risk credit card processing account due to repeated incidents of fraud.
- Throwing away your bank information. Many people toss documents in the trash that contain sensitive bank information. Fraud prevention is easy if you invest in a small paper shredder that destroys your bank statements before they head to the trash. Don’t have the money to invest in a paper shredder? Apply for online statements and avoid paper altogether. Note: by putting your statements online, you should consider two-step verification on your computer and your email to maintain security (see below).
- Using a non-secure computer when entering sensitive information. It’s hard to believe that, despite the threat of fraud and the increase in the need for high risk credit card processing, some business owners still use public computers or insecure connections when shopping or banking online, voluntarily putting their credit card and bank information in to an unsafe portal.
- Sending sensitive information through email. In this internet age, most people can spot an email phishing scam, but many Americans still reply to emails that request their banking information. This group also includes those that give out sensitive financial information over the phone. If you need to send sensitive information, consider encrypting your email and requiring a code to open sensitive information (code should always be sent by separate means).
- Keeping a PIN in your pocket. Banks used to instruct people not to write their PIN on the back of their cards, so some people began writing it down on a piece of paper to keep in their wallet or saved under “PIN” in their phone contacts (all the more reason why our first tip is crucial!). Pick a PIN that you will never forget and stick with it; we advise you to change up your PIN every year and never maintain the same PIN for all of your cards in your wallet. If a thief has your wallet and your PIN, it’s game over.
Fraudsters continue their attempts to outsmart business owners, costing businesses hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars. For true fraud prevention, you need a rules-based credit card fraud protection tool that can screen suspicious transaction activity. Stay one step ahead of fraud with solutions from Payline.
