We've heard it before but it's worth repeating:  Always check your credit card statements before paying the bill.  I recently discovered $400 worth of airline tickets were billed to my card.  Had I not noticed the charges on my statement, the would-be thief would have gotten free flights on my dime.  Not cool.

The good news is that the credit card company took care of this quickly:  They cancelled my card and sent me a new one.

There's a limited time period for reporting fraudulent activity so we're encouraged to check statements and report concerns within 2 months.  The sooner the better, actually.

I've just learned that many credit card companies offer a text alert every time a charge is made on your card.  That sounds like it could be a big help moving forward.  If the text indicates something has been charged, but I haven't bought anything, I'll know it was the work of a thief.

Do you have any tips to help keep Ocean County residents safe from credit card fraud?

 

 

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