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Credit card fraud is the act of using another person’s credit card or credit card number to buy merchandise or obtain money fraudulently. There are several ways of committing credit card fraud, and the person responsible doesn’t necessarily have to use the stolen card physically to be committing the act. Credit card fraud is also considered a form of identity theft. Credit card Fraud has become rampant in the recent past, made easier by advancement in spyware technology, the internet, the ever growing number of financial institutions, and virtual accessibility to credit cards online.

Victims should report credit card fraud to not only help the authorities investigate the fraud but protect their account and credit history. The first thing you should do when you suspect fraudulent activities on your account is to report credit card Fraud to the 3 major credit bureaus namely Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Ensure you file a report with each bureau which will mean that further fraud on your account will significantly reduce as the companies will be calling you personally to verify information before transacting any business in your account.

The other reason why you need to report credit card fraud to all the 3 bureaus is even though they share similar information, there sometimes might be a communication delay. Further, there might be inaccurate communication amongst the companies, reason enough to report credit card fraud to each bureau. When you report credit card fraud to the credit bureaus, there are two fraud alerts that you can choose from. One is a temporary 90-day alert on your account that you should call to renew after every 3 months and the other is a permanent 7 year alert that you ought to request in formal writing.

With that said, whether you have been a credit card fraud victim or not, you might want to take certain precautions in order to prevent thieves accessing your personal information. First of is to periodically change passwords on all your financial accounts, and use strong passwords other than your mother’s maiden name. The other way to protect yourself is to be cautious know how to recognize a scam. Today there are so many online scams attempting to collect personal information. Avoid fake-sign ins and responding to phishing emails.

Boiled down, once you become a credit card fraud victim, your credit history will be tarnished but you should work with relevant authorities to repair and prevent further fraudulent activities.