With the advent of telephone banking and the Internet, the way we manage our credit cards has completely changed. It wasn’t that long ago that we had to wait for our monthly statements in the mail to see how our accounts were doing and it was only then that we could see if there were any incorrect charges or, even worse, if our card number had been stolen. But today, things are much faster, with debit transactions clearing immediately for viewing online, and credit transactions clearing in just a few days. But with greater access to online information comes greater responsibility for keeping that information safe. Here are a few tips for keeping your credit card info safe now and into the future.
Many of us use computers at home, at work, and even sometimes at a third party location like at the library or at a friend’s house. An excellent rule of thumb to follow is to never check your credit card information online from anywhere other than your home computer. Even if you know no one else at work uses your machine, it may not have the latest spyware and antivirus protection on it that you need. You also don’t want to leave your credit card login information on any other computer except a private one in your own home. Always assume no other computer is safe.
It is also a good idea to make sure you have the latest antivirus and spyware protection installed on your computer. One of the main ways that credit card information gets stolen is with programs called keyloggers. Keyloggers are viruses that can be sent to your computer via email or via a file transfer and then secretly install themselves on your computer. After installation the program will then log everything you type, including email login and password codes as well as credit card information, and then transmit the information back to the person who sent it to you. People can not only have their credit card information stolen, but also their private banking information as well as any other personal information you might have typed into your computer. By keeping your antivirus information up to date, you can stop these programs before you even get them.
Another excellent tool you can use to protect yourself is to make sure that all of your passwords to your online accounts aren’t easy to figure out. If your card number and login information is compromised by someone you know, they will likely try all of the “usual” passwords to try to get into your account like the names of your kids, pet names, sports team names and things like that. You are much better using a nonsense word as a password, or, even better, a random collection of letters and numbers that don’t mean anything. The more obscure your password combination is, the less likely it will ever be stolen. The key is you just have to remember it.
