Take precautions to protect your credit cards from fraud

OTTAWA — As Canadians head out for their holidays this summer, they’re going to be reaching for their credit card to pay their way and experts want them to take some simple steps to protect against fraud.

While entirely eliminating the risk that your card number will be stolen isn’t possible, reducing the chances you will be hit requires mostly common sense.

Don’t lend your card, protect your personal identification number, don’t share your PIN number and check your transactions regularly.

“You should protect your card like you would cash,” says Maura Drew-Lytle, spokeswoman for the Canadian Bankers Association.

Drew-Lytle says banks are constantly monitoring credit card transactions looking for fraud, so you may want to let your bank know if you’re travelling so they don’t suspect your purchase of a souvenir while on holiday in Europe is someone that has stolen your card.

“If you’re someone that doesn’t travel a lot and all of a sudden they see transactions from Spain on your credit card, they may block it thinking it is fraudulent,” she said.

The big credit card companies have zero liability policies that can protect you from unauthorized purchases, but if your card is compromised and needs to be replaced it can be a major inconvenience, especially if travelling.

The introduction of chip cards in Canada has helped fight credit card counterfeiting. According to the Canadian Bankers Association, they reduced card counterfeiting by 23 per cent between 2012 and 2013.

However, the U.S., a major destination for vacationing Canadians, has been slow to adopt the technology with many stores and restaurants still swiping your card and requiring you to sign the bill. Drew-Lytle says you should take the same precautions while travelling in the U.S. you did before chip cards were introduced in Canada.

“If anything looks unusual about the terminal that they are using, you might want to pay cash or go somewhere else.”