There are no shortage of stories in the news about the incidents of fraud, identity theft, and personal financial disasters caused by breeches of security.

There are no shortage of stories in the news about the incidents of fraud, identity theft, and personal financial disasters caused by breeches of security.

Consumers are undoubtedly becoming more security conscious than ever before. More and more are shredding documents, locking up important financial data, and equipping their computers with security software and strong passwords.

However, despite these efforts, thieves still find a way to disrupt the normalcy of life and are creating new victims every hour.

The Security Advantages of Credit Cards

While many across the country are struggling with repaying credit card debt, credit cards are hands-down superior to debit cards when it comes to fraud protection. The reality of the credit card chain of command is that essentially it is the credit card company that is first making the payment to the vendor each time a cardholder makes a purchase.

In the event of an unauthorized transaction, the credit company and their legal team will be working to recover the money, while cardholders do not become a victim themselves. The maximum amount of money a victim would ever have to pay toward unauthorized charges is $50 as long as the credit card is reported as lost or stolen within a 60-day time period.

Debit Cards are Less Secure

On the contrary, a debit card is directly linked to a person’s bank account and when used fraudulently, the thief has access to all of the cash in the account and can essentially wipe a victim out in no time at all.

Debit card holders are likely to be held responsible for paying up to $500 for unauthorized changes. If the debit card fraud is not reported within 60 days, the consumer will be held liable for all of the money taken. Imagine not noticing your card has been missing until the reporting period has past. For many consumers, it would be an incredibly hard financial setback.

Security Tips

Regardless of the preference a consumer has for utilizing either card, there are still some very important things to remember when it comes to security.

• Never keep your social security card or number with your other forms of identification, your credit or debit cards. Store it instead in a safe but accessible place at home until you need to use it.
• Choose to only receive information about your account electronically over the internet to avoid potential thieves from snatching information from your mailbox.
• Set up strong passwords on all of your internet accounts to prevent potential malicious hacking from online criminals. Use numbers, symbols, words (phrases, if possible) not found in a standard dictionary.
• Never under any circumstances provide information about your account to a person you can not identify, such as over the phone or via email. There are very clever scam artists that use very convincing technology to lure information out of you.

As the old saying mentions that a thief will find a way in if he wants to badly enough, it is our responsibility to ourselves and our personal financial affairs that we make it as difficult as possible in order to prevent becoming such a victim.