Combatting Credit Card Fraud
Provided by HG.org
Credit card fraud is a form of identity theft that involves an unauthorized use of someone's credit card information for the purpose of charging purchases to the account or removing funds from it. State and federal laws both come into play with relation to credit card fraud, as may your agreements with your credit or debit card issuer.
Federal law limits cardholders’ liability to $50 in the event of credit card theft, but most banks will waive this amount if the cardholder signs an affidavit explaining the theft. Unfortunately, time is often of the essence. If you do not notice the charges in a very small window, the card issuer may refuse to waive the $50 charge.
Credit card fraud schemes generally fall into one of two categories of fraud: application fraud and account takeover. Application fraud refers to the unauthorized opening of credit card accounts in another person's name. This may occur if a perpetrator can obtain enough personal information about the victim to completely fill out the credit card application, or is able to create convincing counterfeit documents. Application fraud schemes are serious because a victim may learn about the fraud too late, if ever, usually only when they are denied credit or obtain a credit report.
Account takeovers typically involve the criminal hijacking of an existing credit card account, a practice by which a perpetrator obtains enough information about a victim to either change the account's billing address and order a replacement card, or simply obtains the credit card number and billing information to begin making charges. The latter approach is often called “skimming.”
With the convenience of modern technology comes additional threats for credit card fraud. With online purchasing now common, there is no longer a need for a physical card to make an unauthorized purchase. One common practice during the height of the housing crash was to use misappropriated credit card information to purchase items, ship them to vacant foreclosed homes under a false name, collect the items, and remain virtually untraceable. Additionally, electronic databases containing credit card data may be hacked or crash on their own, releasing customers' credit card information, putting the security of many accounts at risk at once.
If you believe you have been the victim of credit card fraud, your first call should be to the police. Next, contact your credit card company and notify them of the situation as soon as possible. The sooner the better, as you may be able to avoid all charges if you report the fraud within days of its occurrence. Finally, if you have suffered financially as a result of the fraud, either from damaged credit or losses in having to pay expenses incurred by a fraudster, consider contacting an attorney. They may be able to help you recover some or all of your expenses and, if you can identify who stole your card, you may also be entitled to punitive damages.
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Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
Credit card fraud schemes generally fall into one of two categories of fraud: application fraud and account takeover. Application fraud refers to the unauthorized opening of credit card accounts in another person's name. This may occur if a perpetrator can obtain enough personal information about the victim to completely fill out the credit card application, or is able to create convincing counterfeit documents. Application fraud schemes are serious because a victim may learn about the fraud too late, if ever, usually only when they are denied credit or obtain a credit report.
Account takeovers typically involve the criminal hijacking of an existing credit card account, a practice by which a perpetrator obtains enough information about a victim to either change the account's billing address and order a replacement card, or simply obtains the credit card number and billing information to begin making charges. The latter approach is often called “skimming.”
With the convenience of modern technology comes additional threats for credit card fraud. With online purchasing now common, there is no longer a need for a physical card to make an unauthorized purchase. One common practice during the height of the housing crash was to use misappropriated credit card information to purchase items, ship them to vacant foreclosed homes under a false name, collect the items, and remain virtually untraceable. Additionally, electronic databases containing credit card data may be hacked or crash on their own, releasing customers' credit card information, putting the security of many accounts at risk at once.
If you believe you have been the victim of credit card fraud, your first call should be to the police. Next, contact your credit card company and notify them of the situation as soon as possible. The sooner the better, as you may be able to avoid all charges if you report the fraud within days of its occurrence. Finally, if you have suffered financially as a result of the fraud, either from damaged credit or losses in having to pay expenses incurred by a fraudster, consider contacting an attorney. They may be able to help you recover some or all of your expenses and, if you can identify who stole your card, you may also be entitled to punitive damages.
Copyright HG.org - Google+
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
