Credit card fraud is so common nowadays that credit card users have to be very alert to avoid identity theft and other types of high-tech scam. Unfortunately, some of them do not know the bank’s fraud liability policies and become an easy game for fraudsters.

There are several ways you can be diddled out of your money.

Scenario #1

Company X offers you a credit card loss protection deal so in case your credit card gets lost or stolen you won’t be liable for the unauthorized charges. The fee is usually reasonable (around two hundred dollars) so the whole thing seems to be worth paying for. The trick is that if you a credit cardholder your liability is limited to $50. Of course, the fraudsters know about that so if you ask something about the zero liability policy they will try to convince you that the law has been changed. Or they will claim that the limited liability is only for those credit card owners who have been able to report the fraud in 48 hours.

Sometimes the fraudsters promise that you can cancel the service and get your money back but whenever you try to call the line is busy or nobody picks up.

Scenario #2

You get an e-mail or a phone call from the bank saying that they are offering a new credit card loss protection service or they simply want to activate a new credit card protection feature. All you need to do is give them your account number or other kind of your personal information. Obviously, you are about to become an identity fraud victim. The smartest thing to do in this situation is to hang up or delete the e-mail. Your bank will never ask you to disclose your credit card information in such an insecure way. Actually, they do not need it because they already have it!

This type of credit scam is much more dangerous because by giving away your credit card information you make your whole account vulnerable while in scenario #1 you just pay for something that does not exist.

If you feel that your credit card needs some extra protection, you can always contact the issuing bank. Quite often the bank is eager to give you additional protection. For example, HSBC Bank for a small annual fee will give extra protection to your credit card account. The Identity Protection Plan includes special security software, 24-hours lost or stolen credit card notification, credit bureau monitoring, and professional help of a fraud resolution manager. Similar services are offered by many banks.

Credit card security is a very important thing for any consumer. So, to protect your credit card from fraudsters avoid credit card loss protection scams.