Shopping and banking online occur constantly in the Internet marketplace. Unfortunately, online fraud and identify theft occurs just as frequently, thanks to clever thieves and sloppy consumer Internet shopping habits. Online transactions always carry some risk, but consumers can do many things to increase their security on the web.
According to the “2013 Identity Fraud Report” by Javelin Strategy and Research (February 2013), identity fraud activity equaled over $21 billion in losses during 2012. The statistics indicate identity fraud incidents occur every three seconds. A report released by ACI Payment Systems in October 2012 stated 42 percent of U.S. residents surveyed were victims of fraud by credit, debit, and prepaid cards during the previous five years. One in four people surveyed in 17 other countries reported victimization by card fraud.
This year, more consumers will use credit cards for online shopping than in 2012. Visa reports the period of January 1, 2013 through February 28, 2013 has already seen an increase of three percent compared to the same period last year. The volume of credit payments in the U.S. is up 11 percent in 2013, whereas debit payments are up only three percent.
Credit cards offer more protection for consumers than debit cards when fraudulent transactions occur. Consumers should carefully read the fine print on their credit and debit card agreements to find out the protections and limitations for their cards.
The Javelin report shows consumers are more active and educated about the risks of online credit card transactions than in the past. Over 50 percent of the study respondents were using a service to monitor for fraud on their accounts. 15 percent of individuals who were victims of fraud had begun avoiding smaller Internet retailers after an incident of identity theft. Large Internet retail sites and gaming websites reported the lowest level of losses.
Consumers wanting to be as safe as possible when shopping online should take several key steps.
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