Credit card fraud is no new thing and if you ask around you will possibly find at least one person you know who has been the victim of such a crime. And no, its not all internet – based either. Often it will happen when you least expect it to, in restaurants and in stores and shops.

I personally have used my credit card many, many more times on the internet than in shops in the high street or in restaurants. On the internet I have had no problems ever. I have been defrauded when using my card at a gas station, however. So this goes to show that its certainly not the case that all fraud is on the internet. I trust the internet more, actually. Its not difficult for someone who works in a restaurant as a casual waiter or waitress to attain your card details by what is known as “skimming”.

So how can we be the victim of offline credit card fraud? Nothing new here – its called “skimming”. What is skimming? Its where, for example, you give your card to a waiter or waitress in a cafe or coffee shop to make payment. Shortly they return your card to you and you think nothing more of it. What has happened though is that the card has been “swiped” for payment, not once but twice. So your card details are now being stored in a magnetic card reader which can then be downloaded to a computer for use.

The only way to be sure this has or is not happening to you is to regularly check your card statements. Often thieves will make very small transactions so you are not aware of them, so its wise to go through your statement carefully.

Due to the increase of credit card fraud over the past number of years, banks have in place higher security measures and also better compensation plans for those unfortunate enough to have experienced it.

Here are a few things you can do to limit your risk:

- any thing other than your credit card statements or any other valuable document pertaining to your credit card you should shred or burn. Do not just simply throw it in the bin and presume it will be safely disposed of

- do not be taken in by phone calls asking you to verify credit card details over the phone as you may inadvertently be giving away all the information required to defraud you

- do not simply lend out your card to anyone, other than those you can really trust

- only carry the credit card or cards that you need and leave the rest in a safe place

- if you use your card at a store, restaurant, shop or similar, do not leave the credit slip lying around or do not just simply put in the bucket

- do check your statements on a regular basis to make sure there is no strange expenses on there

- if you are moving home then do let your credit card company know well in advance of your move

So there we are, some simple but very effective ways to lower any risks to our credit cards and ensure we do not suffer from credit card theft.

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