Three Effective Rules for Credit Card Security – Take care of your cards NOW

Credit card security is something we all have to think of. It doesn’t take much to protect our credit cards from fraud and theft. A little extra thought and a few precautions will save you a lot of trouble.

First, carry only the card(s) you’ll use on your shopping trip and leave the others at home. If they are stolen, you still have cards that haven’t been compromised. Don’t keep your cards in your wallet or purse when you shop or travel; if your wallet is stolen, your credit cards are still on your person. I typically put my cards in a separate pocket from my wallet, to prevent losing them all.

Second. Never, ever give your CSC (card security code) to anyone over the phone unless you initiated the call! Your card issuer already knows it but impersonating card issuers is the most effective ruse for identity thieves. Your CSC is the last three digits on the reverse of your credit card. This transaction is a means to verify the transaction.

Thirdly, always check your charge slip for blank spaces. Draw a heavy line through those spaces so that extra charges can’t be added without your permission. Lines in the tip column are often omitted and people sign the total without filling in the tip area, assuming the running total is the final total. BUT sometimes less than scrupulous staff will fill in the missing line under total.

When traveling in Spain, some friends of mine were robbed in the middle of the street in daylight. Taking some simple safety steps can prevent a total washout: separating cash and cards, getting a safety deposit box at the hotel, wearing a secret passport belt, dressing more casually, keeping expensive items like jewelry, iPods, cameras, etc., in the hotel, and being generally street wise.

It’s not hard to keep your credit cards safe if you use a little caution and common sense. Have you ever had your cards stolen or misused? What happened? Comment in our thread!

Mr Credit Card’s Survey: My Personal Answers… And yours?

I just received this email from Mr Credit Card who asked me to share my answers with him for a report he is doing. Rather than just do that, I thought I would share my answers with all of you…

Mr Credit Card here. I am conducting a survey among personal finance,
investment bloggers about their credit cards and would appreciate if
you would participate in this survey. I would compile the results and
publish it in my blog

http://www.askmrcreditcard.com/creditcardblog/

and credit you and your site for participation. Below are the questions :

This kind of request could be great linkbait!… Anyway my answers!

1. How many credit cards do you have?

I currently have two credit cards in my wallet only. My wife has a dependent’s card on my primary account. Is this an average amount?

2. Which are the credit cards you have (please be specific about the actual cards – eg Amex blue cash or Chase Freedom)?

I don’t have any American cards at all: both cards are from local banks in Taiwan.

3. Do you have any credit card debt and if yes, how much?

I don’t currently have any amount of outstanding debt on either card. I do occasionally let a little amount ride over but I always regret it when I see the additional interest charges to be paid.

4. What is the apr you are paying?

If I have any outstandings, I’m informed that my APR would be 11.50% on that amount.

5. What is your average FICO score?

I don’t know. It’s not relevant in Taiwan.

6. Have you got any credit cards solely for balance transfer?

I’d like to, but banks here don’t do this to my knowledge.

7. If yes – which card?

N/A.

8. Do you charge your utilities, cable bills and internet bills etc to your credit card?

I only charge my mobile phone bill to my credit card because I usually pay most bills at 7-11.

9. Is your credit card bills set up such that it is automatically paid every month?

No, it isn’t. It should be. But I didn’t do it.

10. Do you use your credit cards at gas stations and supermarkets?

Gas stations – No. Supermarkets – Not regularly.

11. Which is your favorite credit card? (be specific, not visa or mastercard as an answer pls)

I prefer my Gold Card from Taishin Bank.

12. Which is your favorite credit card issuer? (banks, not visa or mastercard)

Citibank. But I don’t have one because they’re too fussy about financial details.

13. When did you get your first credit card? What was the card?

I had a credit card in University which undoubtedly was a mistake. I think it was a British card from Co-op but it was so long ago, I can’t remember.

I think there are several ways that I could really profit from using my credit card more, though. Reading these questions helped me think through the benefits.

I could charge all my gasoline to the card, and get bonus points. I could also charge almost all my larger purchases to it, and get an effectively interest free loan for the first 30 days or so. By putting that money in the bank, I could certainly earn 2.5% pa on my monthly expenses. There are also quite a few offers that my Credit Card company provide, some of which I could take advantage of.

What answers do my readers have to some of these questions? Share your answers in the comments.

Accident Prone: And it’s not April First

Wow! I’m having a lot of accidents today. Normally I wouldn’t blog about these, but each of them is directly linked to blogging.

Don’t delete that FTP user!

I was clearing out the backlong of files for my server, emptying databases, and tidying up other stuff as well. Having been on Dreamhost for four years, I had accumulated over 50 mysql databases, twenty or so users (some now redundant), lots of installs, etc.. I began emptying the server in August last year, but only went part of the way. So last night I started deleting unused databases, and one or two infrequently used FTP users.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when you are careless…

accidental kuixing

I’m told that Dreamhost has backups of sites for such emergencies, so I wrote begging for help. I wonder if they’ll get back to me soon or not. I don’t have a backup of that site myself, either. So I’m hoping that the owner will have a backup … he should. Right? If you don’t have a backup of your site, esp. the database and the files… you shouldn’t be reading this. Go and do it. NOW!

This is the said email: it’s just like that 911 call you hear on the news, distressed voice on the other line…

HELP!

I was checking through the users on the manage users tab… and I don’t know how it happened but I deleted user ‘kuixing’… everything is gone!

I swear I didn’t hit delete or anything… but I backtabbed from the delete user screen. Then I refreshed the main FTP user list page… https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=users.users&

And boom! Everything for user ‘****’ was deleted!

Is it possible to restore this user’s data?

Kenneth

Of course, I want to hear good news, but I’m braced for the worst. Let’s hope the give the news soon. Dreamhost service hasn’t been as good as I experienced before especially since I upgraded to their VPS hosting. Let’s hope they come through!

Don’t put your glasses on the floor!

I had a quick nap in the afternoon. I must have taken my glasses off, and put them on the bed as I slept. After getting up, my wife came in and fluffed the blanks. Glasses became aerial and end up on the floor whereupon her left foot comes into contact with the left lens (the expensive lens) and suddenly I have several lenses of varying sizes. Naturally, since she is my wife, this is *not* her fault! My old IBM notebook met a similar fate at her feet.

P1000828

Of course, this is going to be expensive to replace, but fortunately the frame is fine somehow. I’ll give you a quote. Since I spend a lot of time at the computer, I need glasses so I have three pairs in all. I’ll be pressing my other pair into action this afternoon.

I want to hear good news on that one, too. But I know that it won’t be cheap to fix them!

Don’t drop the last coffee beans!

Then we’re almost out of coffee at work, the last precious coffee beans in the coffee jar. I put them in the grinder and hit grind. Then I stopped to see the quality of the grind, and the lid flew off scattering coffee half-ground beans ALL over the floor. Result: we all had half size cups of coffee. It was all the more delicious because it was so precious! The lack of coffee will affect productivity, too. I’d like to hear good news about those beans, but I have to go to Costco . That’s always bad for the budget and the waistliine.

Does anyone else think I’m kind of clumsy? Let’s see: I’ve lost my camera, lost several wallets, bank books, ATM cards, credit cards, ID cards, …