Stealing Credit Card Numbers
How to protect yourself against stolen credit card numbers
- Here are some important tips on how to protect yourself against credit card number theft, for shoppers and merchants.
How can someone steal my identity?
Identity thieves may use a variety of low- and high-tech methods to gain access to your personally identifying information. For example:
- They get
information from businesses or institutions by:
- stealing records from their employer,
- bribing an employee who has access to the records,
- conning information out of employees, or
- hacking
into the organization's computers.
- They rummage
through your trash, the trash of businesses, or dumps in a
practice known as "dumpster diving."
- They obtain
credit reports by abusing their employer's authorized access to
credit reports or by posing as a landlord, employer or someone
else who may have a legitimate need for and a legal right to the
information.
- They steal
credit and debit card account numbers as your card is processed by
using a special information storage device in a practice known as
"skimming."
- They steal
wallets and purses containing identification and credit and bank
cards.
- They steal
mail, including bank and credit card statements, pre-approved
credit offers, new checks, or tax information.
- They
complete a "change of address form" to divert mail to another
location.
- They steal
personal information from your home.
- They scam information from you by posing as a legitimate business person or government official.
Source: FTC
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Visit our Shopping Guides and Credit Card Fraud sections for useful information.
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