Here's how you can outsmart credit card thieves

Credit card thefts are expensive. Take simple precautions to minimise the extent of damage in case of your identity theft.

Credit card or debit card thefts done by cloning personal identities of cardholders have become a common occurrence these days. These thieves use skimming machines to copy credit card data of cardholders, use spy cameras inside ATM centres to pick up PIN number of card users and transfer money across bank accounts in India.

In more recent cases of such thefts fraudsters used a similar technique of cloning the credit card details of cardholders using torn credit cards.

In this age of technology, credit card thieves are getting smarter with the help of sophisticated machines and cameras. But have you become smarter and more cautious?

Most of us want to shop fast. We give the card to the vendor, sign the receipt and take our stuff. But the smiling salesman who swipes the card might just swipe your bank balance by copying the card and the PIN number.

Following simple precautions while using credit or debit cards can protect you from credit card fraudsters employing sophisticated technology and your gullibility.

Here is a rule book you should follow to outsmart credit card fraudsters.

The author is a credit expert with 10 years of experience in personal finance and consumer banking industry and another 7 years in credit bureau sector. Rajiv was instrumental in setting up India's first credit bureau, Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He has also worked with Citibank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Experian in various capacities.

1. Sign up: As soon as you get a new credit or debit card, sign up on the back side strip in exactly the way you usually sign.

2. Shopping frequently? Use your credit card, instead of a debit card, for frequent transactions with newer or small vendors.

3. Eating out often? Make sure that the restaurant vendor swipes the card in your presence only.

4. Tear it into pieces: Credit statements, ATM slips, customer copy of card transactions shouldn't be seen by unknown persons and should be shredded into tiny pieces before they go to the dustbin. If you are moving places, make sure you get the address updated in the bank records, so that the card statement doesn't reach your old address.

5. Stay connected with the bank: Register your mobile number and the e-mail ID with the bank right away. Most banks will send an SMS alert as soon as any transaction is being done.

6. Don't bare it all: Identity thieves could be on a look out for your personal information such as date of birth, PAN card details. So think twice before you share such information on Facebook or Linkedin.

7. Be greedy and pay the price: Some people who got duped by credit card thieves in Hyderabad in April 2012 were lured into a free mobile recharge scheme at a mall. A few days later in Ahmedabad, the thieves promised to get a higher credit limit on the customer's credit cards. In both these cases in 2012, when the card was being swiped, the information was copied to another machine.

8. Often, online retailers will entice you with free credit card or insurance policies. Don't ever click on that check box.