Are you worried about your credit card or debt card being stolen? Youre not alone, its estimated that 51% of people in the UK are concerned about their credit and debt cards being stolen. Credit card fraud is a consent worry, and with more people using their cards as there main source of paying for services and goods. It gives the criminals many more chances too get information from our cards.

Credit card fraud is not new, the companies seem to be getting a head on how to stop the criminals, and then they come up with a new way its a never-ending problem. Credit card skimming is just one of the problems, that is where they take the information from the magnetic strip and transfer it on to another card. The companies are trying hard to fight back and they have hit back with the chip & pin card, which seems to be reducing fraud but give it time no doubt the criminals will find a way around that.

There are ways to help yourself with credit and debt card fraud, below are some useful tips in keeping the criminals at bay.

Never let your credit or debt card out of your sight

Never keep your Pin number with your card

Dont give your Pin number out to anyone

When withdrawing money from an ATM machine make sure no one can see your Pin number

Check bank statements very carefully any problems contact bank immediately

Paying for goods with your card double check the amount before entering Pin

Keep chequebook and cards separate at all times

Report your lost or stolen cards immediately

Make sure you destroy statements and old cards properly, leaving no account numbers visible

The tips above will help you to fight credit or debt card fraud but we have to be vigilant at all times. As I said earlier with more people paying for goods and services with there cards, it gives the criminals more opportunities to get our information so its up to us to do what we can. With online shopping becoming very popular a lot of us worry about paying for goods over the net, credit card companies are trying to put our minds at rest. With most of them giving you extra fraud cover most give this cover free, but some do charge you so just check with your credit card company.

Credit and debt cards are here to stay so lets hope in the near future that the credit card companies, can rid us of credit card fraud but I am afraid its big business costing us millions every year.