Monitor your accounts daily (or at least every few days). You can’t protect yourself if you don’t know a fraudulent transaction has taken place.Keep your credit and personal information private whenever possible. Do not provide any more information than you have to.

Avoid spammy or unprofessional-looking websites. Some fake sites pose as legitimate retailers to get your credit card information to make purchases.

Shop only on sites with added security features. Most secure sites have a URL that begins with “https.”.

Make sure to use credit for purchases you can pay off right away. Interest on unpaid balances can add up quickly. Most of the time, it makes sense to use credit cautiously and slowly.

Pay your balance in full each time your statement closes to avoid interest charges.

Most of the time, your card issuer will even take care of the investigation details, too. What happens if you order something online and it shows up damaged or does not show up at all? Or what if you do not get what you ordered? If you pay with a credit card, you may be able to withhold payment or dispute a charge if there is an issue with your purchase. When you do report fraud you may have to wait days or weeks to get a refund for a fraudulent transaction made with your card, even if your bank account was drained. If reported within two business days, your maximum loss will be $50 more than two business days but less than 60 calendar days, your maximum loss will be $500 and after 60 calendar days, your liability will be 100% of the loss, possibly more if money in other accounts are linked to your debit account. Because the money you spend comes out of your bank account, your liability depends on how quickly the fraudulent charges are reported. Most credit card issuers will put the fraudulent charge on hold while they conduct an investigation, so you won’t be out the money in the interim.ĭebit cards are a different story.

However, as noted above, most credit cards offer zero-fraud liability, meaning you won’t be on the hook for a penny.

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