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As the number of customers using credit cards has increased, the number of customers becoming victims of credit card frauds has also increased.

How To Keep Your Credit Cards Safe When Shopping Online or offline?

- How does a Cracker find Credit Card Numbers online?

1. Server Exploits: Hack yourself into a e-shopping site with one of the many server vulnerabilities documented on the Internet and then just snoop around.
2. Software Services: Retailers who get small customers (10 / month) cannot afford the huge investment in real time processing tend to buy small modules from Cart32.com and similar sites. Cart32.com cart32’s system checks for validity of the customers credit cards for smaller merchants.The well known exploit for Cart32 v2.6 (Build less than 525) has a decoder that is less than 20kb and exposes the admin passwords of the client. emy.com.au had an admin password “a” for 15 days…….now how tough is that to crack? Even some of the later versions of Cart32 such as 3.5a had some loop holes in them which were royally exploited by many.
3. .cgi Scripts: The shopper.cgi exploit, in which crackers use any searchengine to find one line on a site. If that line is found on the search engine after the “www.site.com/” page, then a cracker only has to add one small line to get acces to a huge list of information including, potentially, credit card numbers. There are plenty of other insecure amateur Perl and .cgi scripts out there too.

The Response:

1. Secure Your Computer

The best option is to only shop online using your own computer, and before doing so, take the time to clean up and secure your PC using the latest antivirus and spyware removal tools.

2. Secure Your Browser

When you click to “view website info,” the application provides a full report of the source server’s IP and geographic location (city/state) as well as the server visitor load, so that you know you’re not dealing with some fly-by-night operation.

3. All credit cards have a magnetic strip, where the customer is required to sign. It is mandatory to sign on this label, as this would be compared at the merchant outlet whenever the customer makes any transaction.

4. Keep a Secret

It may sound like overkill, but you need to treat your credit card number as if it were a precious secret. Only tell it to those who really need to know and don’t say it or lay it where others can find it out. Before entering your credit card number into any website or giving it to anyone over the phone, make sure you know exactly who you’re dealing with and that their reasons for needing your credit card number are legitimate.

5. It is always a good practice to change the PIN (personal identification number) frequently. One should enter the PIN in such a way that no one can easily remember the keystrokes. The PIN and the account number on the credit card are sufficient to make any transaction online. Hence, one should make it a practice not to leave the transaction receipt or the credit card statement behind at the ATM or at any merchant outlet.

6. Lock it Up

There is absolutely no reason to carry every single credit card you own around with you. Not only can that lead to frivolous spending, it can lead to serious credit card safety mishaps. Only carry the credit cards that you absolutely need and keep your other credit cards locked up in a personal safe.

7. Be Careful with Your Mail

If you have a street-side mailbox, don’t leave your credit card payments in there for the postal carrier to pick up and make sure you pick up your mail each and every day. If you’re not careful with your mail, thieves may dig through it to get your credit card information.

8. Get Credit Monitoring Service

With the above four steps, you’ll be able to ensure no one uses the credit cards you have for fraudulent purposes. But what if someone opens up a credit card in your name and you don’t even know it exists? If you want to make sure no one is using your good credit to run up a huge bill, you’re going to want to sign up for credit monitoring service so you can check your credit report frequently and be notified if anyone opens up an unauthorized account.

9. One should check the monthly statement carefully to make certain that all the transactions listed in the statement are genuine. It is good to have an online account for efficient tracking of the credit account. Any unauthorized transactions or errors in the statement should be promptly notified to the bank.

10. One should never provide the credit card number and the PIN to anybody over the telephone.

By following the above five steps, you can rest assured that you’ll be well on your way to credit card safety, both online and offline.