Keeping Your Financial Identity Safe

As more and more of our lives end up online protecting our identity is harder and harder. Though it may seem daunting, there are still a few things we can do to protect ourselves.

You’ve probably heard dozens of reports in the news of credit card information being stolen from a number of big retailers. What can you do when something that is largely out of your control happens?

Knowledge is Power

You can’t always protect yourself from widespread hacks and breaches but you can make sure you react quickly. Watching your online banking or checking your credit on a regular basis is key in finding fraud before it can become a huge problem.

Watch out for transactions you did not make or new accounts opened in your name. Once you see anything suspicious reach out to your bank or credit card company immediately to put a freeze on all of your cards.

Think Before You Swipe

A more old-fashioned way of stealing credit card information is through tampered pin pads at ATMs and stores. Spotting these isn’t always easy but it doesn’t hurt to take a look before you insert your card.

Tampered pin pads tend to look slightly off or don’t line up the way they are supposed to with the rest of the machine. If you feel like one looks strange simply don’t use it. These are especially prevalent at ATMs and gas stations where there aren’t cashiers or tellers present at all times.

Use The Chip

The chip on your credit card is there for a reason. When you make a purchase with the chip it generates a one time code for that transaction without storing your credit card information in the retailer’s database. This protects you in the even the database is hacked - if someone steals transactional information they won’t be able to duplicate your credit cards since they don’t have the number.

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