Credit Cards Blog

Being a student and enjoying that new student credit card can be fun. So much fun that you, from time to time, become careless with your credit card itself. What happens if your card is lost, stolen, misplaced? If it is any of the former, how can you tell? It is easy to tell if you’re the victim of any type of credit card fraud:

• Did you review your statement (if not you should) and did you find charges you didn’t do?
• Are you getting calls or emails about purchases you didn’t make?
• Did your credit card’s customer service call you to verify a charge?

There is a bit of a safety net in the last two listed above. The first way to tell takes more effort on your part. Now, let’s say that you are the victim of some sort of fraud. Thanks to federal law, whatever charges are incurred on your account, you’re legally only responsible for up to $50. More often than not, once you file the paperwork for credit card fraud, your card company will waive the fee.
*I can speak from personal experience that they do this. I lost my card at a restaurant and when I checked my statement, $100 had been spent at various other restaurants. Apparently the thief was really hungry.*

It is important to be weary of your credit card in case it is lost or stolen. Now, let’s say that it is stolen. Another safety net is to make sure that your passwords are secret and not written down anywhere. This includes your secret questions to retrieve information that some companies require you to use when you sign in. Assuring you’re safe in the event of any of the above protects you and most importantly, your credit rating.