One of my favorite activities is traveling. When I was younger I use to travel with my family and friends across the different continents to view the exotic landmarks that other parts of the world had to offer. One of my favorite trips was vacationing to China/Hong Kong as a grad student for five weeks.
When I came back I received a phone call from my previous credit card company asking me if I recently traveled abroad. The Fraud Specialist on the phone said “Mrs. Hedderman it appears that you recently travel to Paris and had $3,000 in expenses.” My heart sank.
The Fraud Specialist told me since I had traveled internationally frequently, my overseas expenses didn’t alert them—- what prompted them to contact me was the limo service fees and numerous electronics I purchased one weekend in Paris.
It took me several weeks to prove that I wasn’t in Paris living out of a limo and buying an amazing sound system to take back to the United States.
I’ve since learned a lot about how to protect myself online. Working at Discover has taught me how a Credit Card Company and Cardmembers can work together to protect one another from fraud and identity theft so others do not have to endure the same experience.
Important Information to keep you Secure
- Set up Enhanced Account Security Questions (Strong Authorization Questions) to validate your identity when you login to Discover.com—they provide an extra layer of protection when navigating through the site.
- $0 Fraud Liability Guarantee- You’re not responsible for any unauthorized charges on your account—online-offline, anytime, anywhere, with absolutely NO deductible
- Advanced fraud early warning that’s quick and automatic-we’ll call you right away if there’s unusual activity on your Account
- Fraud Specialist dedicated to helping you 24/7—we assign a personal Fraud Specialist to help you until your issues are solved.
- Sign up for paperless statements and keep your account information out of identity thieves’ hands by viewing your statement online (http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/statements/paperless.html)
- Online security tips (http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/fraud/id-protection.html)
- See our lost/stolen checklist (http://www.discovercard.com/customerservice/fraud/lost-stolen.html)
- Tips on how to keep your account safe: http://www.discovercard.com/customer-service/fraud/howto-keepsafe.html
Discover was among the best of 23 card issuers in identity fraud resolution according to a 2011 report by Javelin Strategy & Research, a leading financial services research and analysis firm.
What are some of your identity protection tips? Please share them with us.
Another little safety precaution I take is by calling the credit card company and notifying if I am going out of town for vacation or business. This not only helps them know what type of purchases might be coming through but to keep a close tab on the types of transactions. The worst thing is traveling and having your credit card deactivated for security purposes and not getting another one mailed out until Monday and asking your friends to add you to their budget for the weekend !
I usually call the credit card company and ask them to NOT send me the pre-printed checks that can be used against your account. I also use a cross shreader to get rid of the unsolicited credit card applications. You can’t be too careful these days.