What to do When Your Credit Card Info is Stolen

Recently I woke up to an alarming email, possibly from my credit card company, saying there were several unauthorized attempts to use my credit card on various websites. As a general rule I don’t click on links from emails when I’m not 100% sure about them (and maybe I was a little in denial) so I logged into my credit card account and saw that there were some fraudulent charges, including one big one that made it through. I immediately took action and decided to put together this guide of both what to do and some general security advice.

Note: Gizmodo has a great guide on what to do. I’ll try not to repeat content but I will tell you what I did.

Call Your Credit Card Company

Tell them what has happened and tell them as soon as possible. If you wait on it you may not recoup some of the money that’s been stolen from you and risk worse fraud, like accounts being opened or loans being taken out in your name. They will cancel your credit card and send you a new one. Immediately shred your old one.

Check Your Other Accounts

I’ve made a habit of checking my bank accounts and credit card account daily to make sure there’s not any fraudulent activity anyway, but it’s important to take a closer look after something like this. Make sure you know about each purchase; what you bought and where your bought it.

Report the Fraudulent Activity and get Your Credit Report Set Straight

This is where the Gizmodo article is especially helpful. Contact one of the three credit report companies (the one you contact will contact the other two) and place a fraud report. I called Equifax: 1-800-525-6285.

Remove Your Card from Websites Where it’s Stored

The first thing I thought when I got this news was, “How?” Unfortunately, I will probably never know how exactly my credit card number was stolen, but I can plug up a few holes. Storing credit card information might be convenient but it’s always a risk. My recommendation would be to delete that inform from most websites.

When you can, use Paypal or Amazon Payments to make purchases. These are two companies that have built themselves on payment processing, so I personally trust them. By only holding my credit card information there, I can keep better tabs on it. If you can’t, I recommend the following:

• Make sure the site is a trustworthy vendor. Try to find reviews or someone to vouch for it.
• Make sure the site is using a verified SSL certificate. You will know because the beginning of the address will be a green https://. (eg https://www.amazon.com)
• Do not store your credit card on the site. Make sure that option is unchecked. It’s a pain in the neck to input it each time, especially if you order from there frequently, but it’s a lot more secure.

Be Aware of How You Keep Your Credit Card

On top of storing it properly (or not storing it at all), make sure you keep a physical tab on your cards. Don’t leave them or your wallet out. It’s very easy for someone to snap a picture of your cards for later use.

On that note, when you place phone orders and use your credit card, make sure you know and trust the vendor. I recently found out my parents order food from a place that still uses carbon paper for credit card transactions. That is a massive security issue. It’s worth noting that they have since stopped ordering from there.

I use Dashlane as a secure information management tool; that means passwords, payment information, secure notes, and more. If you do the same, make sure your require that a Master Password be put in to view that information. Again, it may be a pain, but the alternative leaves your information too out in the open. Also, make sure you password protect your computer when it comes back from a screensaver.

Sure Up Personal Security

Make sure your passwords are good ones and your security questions aren’t easy to guess. If you have services that offer phone support, make sure they require the caller to give information that only you know.

On top of that, make sure you log out of websites you’re not using, especially when on a public computer.

Wrapping Up

Luckily my credit card company is awesome and got everything resolved with a short phone call. That’s likely in part because I acted fast. Like I said, the scariest part is that I have no idea how this happened. The steps outlined above should help prevent it from happening again but I’ll be keeping an eye on my credit reports for the next few weeks to make sure there’s nothing else out of the ordinary.

Are you a victim of Credit Card Fraud? What steps did you take to stop it and prevent it from happening again?