Credit Card Fraud - Part III
By Michael Russell
In this article we're going to discuss what
to do if you are the victim of credit card
fraud or if you want to do what you can to
minimize the risk of being such a victim.
One of the best things you can do to
prevent credit card fraud is switch to
cards like the American Express Blue Card.
What American Express does it centralize
its transaction verification and Merchant
Account tracking. This makes their cards
much more fraud resistant. Also, because
Visa and Mastercard have the majority
of the credit card market, this makes
American Express a less likely target.
In most cases of American Express fraud,
which are relatively rare, the customers
are reimbursed immediately and without
question. Also, American Express has much
more friendly customer service procedures
for handling fraud problems. In 2002 they
added what are called Amex Private Payments,
which are one time use disposable credit
card numbers. This virtually makes fraud
impossible unless the card is lost or
stolen. And then it is simply a matter
of reporting it in time.
Another thing you can do is go to a firm
that handles refund requests. Most of
these are appointed by Federal Agencies
that investigate fraud. These firms specialize
in this type of litigation and will be
most qualified to handle your complaint
as quickly and as cost effectively as
possible. The majority of fraud complaints
handled by these firms rule in favor of
the plaintiff.
Unfortunately there are times when your
only recourse is to cancel your credit
card and change banks. Usually what happens
when a card number is stolen is that the
issuing bank is unable to block continuing
transactions. In this case canceling the
card won't be enough because banks usually
carry over charges from one card to another.
So in order to completely clean up your
account you may have to change banks as
well. This will all depend on how good
your bank is at blocking charges, especially
if your card has been widely circulated.
Another thing you can do is phone the
FTC hotline number for credit card fraud.
They have been set up to deal with this
problem specifically. There is also a
form that you can fill out online to determine
if you are eligible for a refund.
A problem that you may run into is that
some banks will refuse to reimburse charges
that are over 60 days old. If this happens
your only recourse is to report the bank
to the Federal authorities and let them
handle the problem.
When looking for a new bank, or for that
matter a first bank to get your first
card, look for one that has a good anti
fraud record. This information is available
online and through several agencies of
the FTC.
Use as few credit cards as possible.
The fewer cards you use the less chance
of being victim of fraud. Also try to
use your cards as little as possible.
Check your credit card statements carefully
to make sure that there are no charges
that don't belong there and request credit
reports so that you can see if there has
been any unusual activity on your account.
By doing the above things you will greatly
minimize the risk of being the victim
of fraud and have the best chance of being
refunded should a fraud occur.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Credit
Cards
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell
