Online Credit Card Fraud Prevention Mechanisms

Are you afraid to use your credit card online? Most credit card companies limit your liability for unauthorized or fraudulent charges to $50. You do not have this security with a debit card. Keep reading to discover a way to limit your liability for online credit card use to $0!

Databases that store your credit card number are frequently hacked. Just because you do not use your credit card to make online purchases, does not mean that your credit card number is not stored in a database that can be hacked.

I had an online purchase show up on my credit card once. However, in that case I think that the purchaser had incorrectly entered the credit card number, and just happened to have the same expiration date. So that is one reason that the three digit CW2/CID number on the back of the card helps identify the correct number was entered. To fix the problem, I just called the credit card company and explained that I had never shopped online with that retailer, and they reversed the charge.

I found another great way to protect yourself with online purchases that limits your liability to $0!

Discover Card has set up a zero dollar liability program. The way it works is they generate secure account numbers. Instead of using your real credit card number, Discover Card assigns you a secure number that is linked to your account through a secure database. When you shop online, you enter your assigned secure number.

Your secure number expires when the credit card does. So when you receive your new card, you can get a new secure number.

This is a downloadable program that is stored on your computer, but they also have a web version so that you can shop online from multiple computers. The secure number can also be used for recurring charges. You can have different secure numbers for different retailers, as long as the numbers are active. You can only maintain a limited number of unused secure account numbers.

The only time you will not be able to use your secure number is when you will have to show your actual card to verify the purchase. This usually would occur with online purchases of airline or movie tickets.

So to start having more protection for online purchases, apply for a Discover More Card by clicking here Discover Card. Or review the Discover Cards offered on our Credit Card Finder.