Keeping your card details safe online
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There are a few ways you can protect your money if you are buying or selling online. I use my card online a lot through many different websites. I’ve had my card details stolen a few times over the last few years.
There are a few things I do to make sure my details are safe: keep a good virus scanner running, do spyware and adware checks regularly. However if sites that you buy from keep a database of your card details and it gets hacked there isn’t much you can do. So here are a few tips I’ve put in place to make sure that if my details do get stolen I don’t get too affected or a big shock.
- Have two bank accounts and two cards. I have one account/card I use for my business and living expenses, this holds the majority of my money and I never use this to pay for anything online. My second account is my ‘internet’ account, I only ever keep a small amount of money in it, and only transfer money into it when I plan on buying something online. The card on this account is a debit card, not a credit card, this means if my card details get stolen any large purchases get rejected.
If you’re selling online you can use your ‘internet’ account to collect money (this is a good idea if you link it to a PayPal account) and when you transfer money out swap it into your ‘safe’ account.
- Choose a good bank. I haven’t checked all bank details on this but find out what your bank can do if your details get stolen. I’ve had calls from my bank asking about ‘questionable transactions’. If they see one or two large transactions that have been rejected they give me a call and ask me if they were made by myself or if I have no idea about them, often they see these transactions before I check my statement. They are also very helpful with what steps to take to claim any money back that has been taken.
- Keep your virus scanner up-to-date. Also use a spyware and adware program to check your computer regularly.
If you visit a website that has a virus do a full system scan to make sure nothing got through to your computer.
- If you’re buying off a website make sure the site is secure before you put in your card details.
If you find that your details have been stolen don’t panic. Contact your bank as soon as you find out and get them to cancel your card and reissue a new one. While this is annoying it will stop any more transactions from taking place. Ask them what you need to do next, different banks may have different steps, but you will probably have to fill in a dispute form which will allow them to reverse any unauthorised transaction(s), which means you should get back any money which was stolen.
