Types of Credit Card Frauds

If you are a credit card owner there is a chance that you may be subject to credit card frauds like thousands of others around the world. Use of credit cards around the world has increased over the years. Online payments and electronic transfers have led to the increased use of credit cards over the years and with it, credit card frauds have also doubled. Though banks and payment industries have created new technologies like secured payment gateways and innovations to combat fraudsters, yet consumers are not informed of credit card frauds and how to protect themselves against it.

There are two main types of Frauds

Card- Not- Present (CNP) Frauds

The most common type of fraud is the Card Not Present fraud or CNP fraud. This occurs when the customer does not present the card physically to the customer or to any credit card machine but the card holder’s information is still stolen and used illegally. Card-not- present fraud can occur when a fraudster gets hold of a cardholder’s name, billing address, account number, three-digit security code and card expiration date which can be stolen electronically, without obtaining the physical card. Card not present fraud occurs online or over the phone. It may also be a result of phising emails sent by fraudsters to steal personal or financial information through an infected link.

Card-Present Frauds

This type of fraud takes place when the credit card is physically presented to the merchant during the transaction and takes the form of skimming. Once that data is used on credit card machines to make a purchase, the consumer’s account is charged. These frauds have relatively come down over the years and it is easier to detect because the merchant can match the signature and observe the behavior of the customer as well. Some of the signs that one can look for to identify possible card-present fraud are when a consumer purchases many items without caring about their price or style, when a consumer hurriedly rushes to complete the
transaction or making bulk purchases.

Apart from being cautious about credit card frauds, you must also know credit card tips for smart users so as to make it a more effective financial tool rather than a liability.

Some Other Ways of Credit Card Frauds

• Card Cloning : A common way of credit card fraud is card cloning with the use of
• Card Skimmer. This is a device that is used by criminals to record all the data on the card so that money can be siphoned off easily from the account. Fraudsters fit skimmers in ATM machines which scan all the data of the card and makes clones.
• Card Trapping: This happens when the card that you insert in the machine gets trapped and you retrieve it only later. Your card can be misused in the mean time.