How to Protect Your Credit Cards

During a time when personal identity theft is on the rise, protecting your credit card is more important than ever. With the implementation of a few pre-emptive measures, you can help prevent your identity from being stolen. More importantly, you will protect your well-earned credit rating.

The minute you receive a credit card you should immediately document the account number, the expiration date, and the telephone number to call in case the cards are lost or stolen. Once you have documented the necessary information, file it away in a place where you can easily access it later; you will find the information extremely helpful if you lose your card or are a victim of theft.

If your credit card is stolen or if you lose your credit card, you must report it to the issuing company as soon as possible. By reporting stolen or lost credit cards immediately, the credit card company can issue you a new card. What's more, the sooner the issuing company is made aware of the incident, the sooner they can take effective measures to prevent unlawful charges from being applied to your account.

You must also remember to keep your private information private. If you have a credit card with an Automated Pin Number for ATM access, don't share it with anyone. In fact, when you receive an Automated Pin Number in the mail, make sure that you immediately commit your PIN to memory and then destroy the document by placing it through a paper shredder or tearing up the document completely.

In terms of keeping your credit card information private, make sure you do not give it to anyone over the phone unless you are absolutely certain you know who you are dealing with. If you give out credit card information to a dishonest individual, you could find yourself with a significant problem on your hands later on.

In order to effectively protect your credit card, you will want to know where it is at all times. What's more, you should keep your credit card in a secure place. Therefore, do not leave your card hidden in a drawer at your desk at work or in the glove compartment of your car. Far too many credit cards are stolen from both work locations and vehicles and you are setting yourself up for trouble if you don't keep your credit card with you at all times.

Alternatively, you will want to be careful when making purchases on the Internet. If you make purchases on the Internet with your credit card, you will want to make sure that you only do so by using websites that are secure. Secure websites encrypt your credit card information and in doing so, keep the prying eyes of hackers away from your personal information.

Finally, to protect your credit card, you should keep all of your receipts for charges you have made. When you keep track of your receipts, you can compare them with your monthly statement of charges. Therefore, if you identity a charge that you did not make, you can notify the credit card company and immediately minimize the damage to your credit card account.