The Top Five Ways To Protect Yourself From Online Fraud

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 10, 2009 -- Susan Littlegate has been a victim of online fraud not once but twice. In September last year her debit card was used in bank fraud transactions in Brazil, on the over side of the world. Luckily her bank spotted the irregularity of the transaction and cancelled it. The second time she was simply online shopping when her bank card was refused. Upon checking her bank statement her balance had been wiped to zero – her card had been ‘cloned’ and her bank account emptied.

When these situations occur it can be devastating. After Susan’s second experience of bank card online fraud it took well over a month for her bank to retrieve the money, resulting in finance charges for her unpaid mortgage and credit card payments. It begs the question: - “How would you manage a month with no access your bank funds”?

Rise In Online Bank Fraud
Online bank fraud is on the up and incidents in 2008 alone totalled a staggering £52.5 million in the UK alone.

Here are five online finance recommendations to help protect yourself against online fraud: -
1 Stay vigilant and never relax your guard while shopping online or carrying out financial transactions. Free anti fraud software is available by McAfee to check whether a site is safe before you click on it. Make sure your firewalls are always turned on and you antivirus software is always kept up to date.

2 Always make sure you log out of sites when you have finished
3 Don’t open emails from people that you do not know.
4 It is advised that you change your online bank password every 60 days.
5 Stay in control of your money. The Eclipse prepaid MasterCard is a great way to do just that. The Eclipse card is not a credit card so you do not need to worry about debt or fraud and it is not debit card so it is in no way linked to your online bank account. You are not able to borrow money; you simply can only spend what you have loaded onto the card, meaning you are completely

Anyone in the UK who does fall victim of online fraud will have their money reimbursed as long as they have acted with ‘reasonable care’ and not in a fraudulent manner. If you do fall victim to online fraud there are many places where you can get help and advice, including: -
http://www.apacs.org.uk
http://www.cardwatch.org.uk/
http://www.eclipsecard.co.uk/eclipse_card/Online_security
http://www.siteadvisor.com/

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