It's estimated that over million 65,000 Brits and 10 million US citizens fall victim to identity theft every single year, making it the one of the fastest growing crimes to affect individuals on 'both sides of the pond'. As a consequence, taking steps to protect your identity has never been more important.
In support of National Identity Fraud Prevention week we wanted to think outside the box and try a slightly different way of getting this important message across.
To get the ball rolling we've created a 'light hearted' video that attempts to emphasise the importance of destroying your unused or unwanted credit cards. This is a must in the fight against fraud as credit card misuse represents one of the most common forms of identity theft affecting both the US and the UK.
While our slightly over the top attempts at making our cards unusable by fraudsters shouldn’t be tried at home, Here are our ten top tips for protecting your credit card identity the safe way….
Top 10 Ways to Protect your Credit Card Identity
- Report lost or stolen cards to your credit card issuer immediately.
- Destroy your old, unused and unwanted credit cards.
- Shred personalised junk mail, bank statements, receipts and any other documentation detailing your credit card number.
- Check your credit card statements as soon as they arrive and notify your card provider of anything untoward immediately.
- Never leave your credit cards unattended or in someone else’s care.
- Memorise your Chip and PIN numbers and choose original passwords for internet banking.
- Make use of the protection offered by Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode when you’re shopping online.
- Only ever enter your credit card details on secure web pages with web addresses starting with https://.
- Never reply to emails that ask you to enter personal or credit card information, legitimate companies will never ask you to do this.
- Always shield the key pad when you enter your PIN number.
