27 January 2020
Credit Card Fraud
As we become adults, you may get a credit card from the card company or your bank and hoping it never happens to you that you become a victim of credit card fraud. Credit card fraud is the most common type of identity theft and can happen at any time. Most importantly, at some point in your adult life, it could happen and you should know what to do if you’re a victim of credit card fraud or in that situation.
Background Info
Credit card fraud is when someone uses your credit card or credit account to make a purchase you didn’t authorize. Every year, millions of Americans become victims of credit card fraud that costs the national economy billions of dollars. Credit Card Fraud can happen in different ways such as if you lose your card or it was stolen, it can be used by someone to make purchases or other transactions, such as withdrawing money from your savings or checking account, either online or in-person. Another way it can happen is that a fraudster can also steal your credit card account number, PIN and security code to make unauthorized transactions, without needing your credit card present.
Even though your credit card is safely in your wallet, it’s important to monitor all your credit card accounts regularly. What you should do if discover that someone has made unauthorized charges on your credit card account, you should:
- Right away contact the credit card company because if you don’t you could be charged with paying more money than you usually do and can be held responsible for $50 of any fraud charges.
- Change your online passwords and PINs to prevent any damage caused by the fraudster.
- Closely monitor your account activity and purchases because this can be especially helpful if you’re not sure how your info was compromised.
- If you notice any fraud on your bank statements then contact your bank immediately.
- Lastly, request a copy of your credit report, there’s often signs of fraud such as new accounts that don’t recognize and will show up on the credit card statement first.
These are the actions or steps to take if you become a victim of credit card fraud.
Statistics show that in 2018, $24.26 billion was lost due to payment card fraud worldwide not just in the United States. The United States leads as the most leading country for credit card fraud with 38.6% of cards that were reported stolen or lost by criminals in 2018. In the past 4 to 5 years the graph has increased overtime for the number of credit card fraud reports in the United States and continues to increase over time. Credit Card fraud is the most common and popular kind of identity theft and makes up 35.4% of all identity theft reports. People who are in there ’30s have the highest number of credit card fraud reports which is 40,182. Those are some of the statistics on Credit Card fraud. The most common states California, Georgia, and Nevada for the most on reports of credit card fraud. In Wisconsin, 64 reports per 100k population and the total number of reports in Wisconsin is 3,731.
Credit Card Fraud Punishment
If you were to ask someone what the punishment is for Credit Card fraud it all depends on what state you live in because different states have different laws in prosecuting and classifying it. It can lead to a minor offense meaning you pay a small fine, rarely jail time. A minor offense typically includes stealing the cars but not using it. If it was a misdemeanor, then it’s a combination of a higher fine such as $1,000 or so and sentenced up to one year in the county jail. A misdemeanor in most cases is when the scammer uses a small amount from the stolen credit card such as $500. Now, if it was a felony it would be the most serious crime that often comes with the highest fine ever such as $25,000 and 15 years in prison. So, if you find someone’s card on the ground turn it immediately to the police department and won’t be arrested for Credit Card fraud.
In the future, if you ever become a victim or experienced credit card fraud then you know what to do if it happens and you’re protecting your credit account from your bank or card company and also not paying at least $50 if someone made unauthorized purchases.
Works Cited
Hg.org, www.hg.org/credit-card-fraud.html.“Credit Card Fraud Statistics.” [Updated October 2019] Shift Processing, shiftprocessing.com/credit-card-fraud-statistics/.
“Credit Card Fraud: What to Do If You're a Victim.” Experian, 21 Sept. 2018, www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/credit-card-fraud-what-to-do-if-you-are-a-victim/.
Dukovski, Kliment, et al. “What's the Punishment for Credit Card Fraud?” Finder US, 12 Nov. 2019, www.finder.com/credit-card-fraud-punishment.
“Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud Statistics for 2019.” The Ascent, www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/identity-theft-credit-card-fraud-statistics/.
Why do you think that the number of reported credit card frauds has been going up over the years and will that make a impact on how people view credit cards?
ReplyDeleteAs a victim of credit card fraud, it truly is a terrifying experience. You have to call your bank and possibly get a new card, look at all your bank statements to see if you just caught it or if there is a purchase that you did not make that went under your nose. Changing passwords makes sure that hackers have a less of a chance of getting your information, and overall just knowing where your money is going will make a huge impact.
ReplyDelete01/30/2020 - I agree, credit card fraud is a huge problem across the world as its very easy to lose track of every purchase you make so someone could easily make discrete purchases without you knowing. Additionally instead of having cash for everything which would be inconvenient and result in more theft to be honest we have cards which make the “stealing” part a little easier considering every dollar you make goes behind that card. Today mobile pay is becoming more popular with google and apple pay which has face id scanners to approve its “you” using your phone so the theft rate will surely go down.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read about the credit card frauds and how people can just use someone else's money and try to get away with it. It was a relief to read that there are regulations and steps that can be made in order to stop or prevent credit card fraud. In addition I found it interesting to see that in 2014 the fraud reports had been significantly low compared to the high rising 2017 fraud cases. It was surprising to see the fraud cases sky rocket so quickly. Lastly, it was interesting to find how popular fraud has become over the recent years and how the numbers could still rise as more and more people get credit cards.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that currency is moving completely digital is scary to some people. People need to be aware of what is going on with their money when it comes to charge/credit cards. Some people prefer card payments and some prefer cash. Cash can be stolen in different ways than cards, but what is safer? I've had multiple cards stolen but I still prefer to use a card over carrying any cash as the card is in most cases covered.
ReplyDeleteI never realized what a problem credit card fraud really was. Since this type of crime is so prevalent, I think credit cards should have stricter restrictions such as perhaps a thumb scanner or a picture of the user is taken, so that when a fraud occurs, the suspect can be identified and incarcerated immediately when the owner figures out that someone is using their credit card. I was surprised that credit card fraud was included into identity theft and that it made up 35.4% of all identity theft reports. I wonder if these criminals get out of having to pay for their consequences. You also cited the statistic that $24.26 billion was stolen as a result of credit card fraud which is an extremely significant amount by all means. Great job!
ReplyDeleteMy family had this happen to us once and my dad didn't lose his card or give it to anyone, but we still had someone steal our cards info and used it, How would/did this happen? Knowing how the card was stolen would help as us as we have been left in the dark as to how they did/can steal the card with out stealing the card its self.
ReplyDeleteGrant, this blog post does an amazing job of giving the straight context of what credit card fraud is, the signs to tell and make sure your credit card information is safe, and the steps to take if you find yourself as a victim of credit card fraud. As someone who doesn’t know much about credit card theft and the statistic of how many people it affects, to find out millions of Americans are affected each year is mind-boggling, and something I realize I should pay more attention to. The statistics that you brought up throughout the post also helped immensely, and were placed extremely well, and didn’t throw off the pace of the blog post at all. The bullet points with all of the information containing the first notable steps in which everyone should take if they were to find themselves in this situation are brilliant as well. It’s simplistic, easy to follow, and gives the reader all the information that they would need. It’s great to see people spreading awareness of the potential dangers of credit card fraud, and give information that is very well needed for a lot of high schoolers, I’m glad I got to learn a lot from this blog post and how to be more safe and protected.
ReplyDeleteWith the amount of credit card frauds that happen each year and the amount of debt accumulated just from identity fraud how does this issue affect the entire economic system instead of just and individual person. Along with the amount of cases and the total amount of money lost how does the government or bank give the peoples money back that was stolen or does the bank just keep adding on to the national debt to pay back customers.
ReplyDeleteWith the modernization of technology, there has been a drastic increase in the number of credit card fraud cases. I appreciate the fact that throughout the article you told the audience the right way to prevent credit card fraud from happening to someone. As we get closer to the age where many of us will or do have credit cards I think this article is great in cautioning us on what we should watch out for. Do you have any personal experiences related to credit card fraud?
ReplyDeleteNo I don't have any personal experiences related to credit card fraud, I mean I hope I don't have any experience in the future because I don't want to be that victim. I don't think that my parents had any credit card fraud experience. Does that answer the question Rithwik?
DeleteI feel like because technology is slowly rising into power around the world, identity theft is becoming a larger and larger problem. Is there anything we should do as teens that might protect us in the future?
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this I didn't realize how often credit card fraud happens and now reading this I realized how big a deal this is because it is dealing with millions of dollars. It is interesting to see the demographics of who are the people getting caught in fraud. Like you said in the article that the most common is with people in their 30's do you think that it is just because they are irresponsible or something else?
ReplyDeleteYour right about how since technology is now increasing and or advancing that these types of thing become easier and easier to do. I like the fact that told us ways on how to prevent this from happening. I think that as a high school student it would be a good thing to read this because we are all going to credit cards soon so it will be important to know these things.
ReplyDeleteGrant, the article did a nice job of presenting the information in an concise and informative way, while holding to account on the procedures after credit care has been stolen.In addition, it makes us aware that technology ahead of it's time can hold dire consequences. In addition, you talked about precautions to take after your credit card fraud, but is there any prerequisites that can prevent this type of fraud? If so, what are those things about and where can we find them.
ReplyDeleteI never knew how often credit card fraud occurred in our society today, I am glad to say I don't know anyone whose ever had a problem with their credit cards being stolen or their account being used. In your blog post you gave many different ways you can strengthen your account like changing your pin numbers and passwords. This was an overall great topic to write about, it's very eye opening for many young adults that this is a legitimate problem and something you can also help prevent in our future.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this blog post I now realize that I should be more careful with my money and my credit card information because I don't want any type of credit card fraud to happen to myself or others.
ReplyDeleteIt's wild how so much economic loss can be caused from one simple thing such as credit card fraud. It really shows the scale of how big of a problem this is, however it is so hard to find an active solution as it is quite a minor crime with little repercussions. It is just very important that you keep any sort of payment card in your possession or in a safe place at all time.
ReplyDeleteSome people really need to understand how hard it can be to keep track of credit cards and things such as online purchases to make sure that fraud isn't happening to you. With internet purchases becoming much more prevalent, cardholders should be making absolutely certain that they are consistently checking purchases from their account to make sure that all purchases are of their own accord and not fraudulent. Is digital fraud more common than fraud caused by having physical copies of cards stolen?
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel as if we are not properly educated enough about certain serious situations like this in school. I really appreciate you providing us this said information for not only how to detect and monitor (possible) credit card debt, but also how to prevent it. In our growing technology dependent world, scammers keep finding ways to scam people financially. Do you think that the smaller punishments for those who fraud smaller amounts from others is sort of a scapegoat so they can pay their fine and go do it again?
ReplyDeleteGrant, superb job! After reading this, I know know how often credit card fraud happens. So much so it has even happened to me! I didn't realize how often credit card fraud happens and I believe that education needs to be more widespread on how to prevent it. It's kind of funny, though, because some people consider credit card fraud as the new "hustle" with rappers such as Teejayx6 romanticizing it in some of his songs. I think that is very wrong. Fraud costs and deals with millions of dollars each and every year, and I agree with Alex Dempsey in saying that it would be interesting to see the demographics of who are the people getting caught in fraud. What do you think the demographics would show?
ReplyDeleteI think it's crazy how just being in possession of someone else's card is still a crime, and even with the jail time and the 25,000 fine, people are still willing to commit the crimes and steal money. I think educating people on how to prevent it from happening to them is an important skill to teach in high schools or optional classes adults can take from their city or something.
ReplyDelete