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Buying through cash is definite. You are assured that you give the exact amount without even having to worry if there is an instance that a prying identity thief was able to copy your credit card information. Once you eat in a restaurant and hand over your credit card, there is no assurance that the waitress did not, in any way, capture your card details. On the other hand, if you are buying in the malls and the swiping is done, there are possibilities that hackers will get in between the mall computer and the bank computer and be able to grab what he wants from you illegally.
The problem with security and protection has alarmed banks and other financial institutions. Each day, more and more cases of identity theft are being reported and put on police record. The crime has changed the lives of millions of individuals all around the world especially in the United States where global economic crisis is very evident. For the crime victims, there is no other hope but to stand once more and build another hope for their financial condition. For current credit card users, there are a lot of options which they can do in order to secure their cards.
Reviewing your own credit report will allow you to check on questionable items which are usually transactions which you are not aware of. Through browsing on the reports, you could see what activities are being done to your account. You could trace the merchant and the date of transaction. In this case, you can always impose interventions to protect your name. You can call your credit card issuer and request for a hold of your card while things are being ironed out by the credit bureaus. You can also personally talk to the merchant to get specific of the questionable transaction.
Once you feel that your account has been breached by other people, you can report the incident to the police other than the credit card issuer and the three reporting agencies. Frozen accounts will prevent the identity thief from making any further damage to your financial condition. Certain actions from online merchants have already been done for protection by requiring a shipping address that matches the credit card billing address. This has been found useful as any purchases will be sent only to the card owner¡¯s address and not to the address provided by the thief.
