1. Credit Card FraudWays to Protect Yourself

2. Credit Card Fraud Unauthorized charges to your credit card Counterfeit cards 3. Credit card fraud can occur when cards are lost or stolen mail is diverted by criminals employees of a business steal customerinformation 4. ID Theft Identity theft is the use of someonespersonal information, such as their SocialSecurity number or date of birth, to commitfinancial fraudCONSUMER ACTION - Credit Card FraudTraining 5. ID thieves harmvictims by: using their names and other personalinformation to open new credit accounts accessing existing credit and bankaccounts to make unauthorizedpurchases Victims of ID theft are not held liable forlosses, but it takes time and effort forvictims to prove fraud and clean up thechaosCONSUMER ACTION - Credit Card FraudTraining 6. Forms of Fraud Dumpster Diving Stealing credit card information from discarded receipts or account statements in peoples trash Shred unwanted documents that contain Social Security numbers, bank and credit card information and other sensitive financial information 7. Skimming When dishonest employees make illegalcopies of credit or debit cards using askimmer device that captures credit cardnumbers and other account information The stolen credit information is used to make purchases by phone and internet, or to make counterfeit cards 8. Phishing Phishing is a financial crime that starts withmassive numbers of deceptive spam e-mails These e-mails look like they come from your bank But they are just a trick to get account numbers and passwords 9. Security Codes Credit card companies use security codesto help prevent unauthorized or fraudulentuse by phone and online These numbers help ensure that the you have the card not just the account number Merchants are prohibited from keeping orstoring any security codes aftertransactions are completed 10. Security Codes Security codes for Visa,Master, and Discovercards are the 3 digitslocated on the back ofthe card in the signaturebox. Security codes forAmerican Express are 4-digits long, printed on thefront of the card abovethe right side of the maincredit card number. 11. New Cards For added protection, credit card issuersask you to call from home to activate newcredit cards As soon as you receive your new card,sign the back of it with a permanent blackink pen 12. Should you write Ask for ID? Writing Ask for ID in the signature spacemay not be a good idea as yourtransactions might not go through if thecard isnt signed Consider signing your card and also writingAsk for ID 13. Liability Fraud victims are not generally required topay for unauthorized charges Victims may be liable for up to $50 of theloss, depending on the circumstancesCONSUMER ACTION - Credit Card FraudTraining 14. Watch your credit card Watch closely when store or restaurantemployees handles handle your card tomake sure they are not copying orSkimming your credit card number After you make a purchase and your cardis handed back to you, make sure the cardis yours. 15. Take precautions Notify your credit card company if you aregoing to be traveling away from home toprevent any inconvenience if your issuershould block your account for being used ina new location Notify your credit card company if you aregoing to make any unusually largepurchases so that your account is notflagged for possible fraud 16. Safeguard your mail Notify the post office and your credit cardcompany immediately if you change youraddress Lock your mailbox. Never leave mail in anunlocked mail box or apartment buildinglobby Put your return address on out-going mail Shred unwanted credit card solicitationsbefore discarding 17. Free Credit Reports Online: www.annualcreditreport.com Phone: 1-877-322-8228 By mail:Annual Credit ReportP.O. Box 105281Atlanta, GA 30348-5281