The Worst Case Scenario: Credit Card Blocked due to fraudulent transactions.
First bike, first credit card, first of everything else are always exciting. The anxious wait related to the same and then on the day the innervoice which proudly loops within "Yes, this is finally mine..."
For some its a happy moment and for some the happiest one.
I had the same feeling too on a couple of occasions including the currently discussed topic: Credit Card.
I got myself a CC a year back and since then I had been swiping it often. I would definitely like to assert that a CC indeed helps you understand the value of money and regularize your spending habits. (Well there would be people who will not agree to me on this).
I use the credit card for swiping at physical POS (point-of-sale machines, the ones at the malls/petrol pumps etc) as well as for online purchases.
For online purchases, you need to enter the CC number, Expiry date, CVV number and a password (often referred as Verified-By-Visa code or MasterCard-SecureCode) For more details you can visit: https://www.3dsecure.icicibank.com . This Verified-By-Visa code or MasterCard-SecureCode is an additional protection only for Indian transactions and for not transactions on international sites.
This is where the problem happened. I recently registered a domain name for a friend, but used this international service provider and as the rulebook says, I was not asked the above VBV code (my CC being a VISA card). Post this successful transaction, I noticed my card to be blocked and neither swiping nor online transactions were successful and was shown a "Transaction Declined" error.
Within a couple of hours, the bank customer care called me informing that the CC has been blocked due to repeated fraudulent international transaction attempts of USD3000, USD300 and USD300 respectively.
Hopefully the transactions didnot go through as the bank's security algorithm's were swift enough to deactivate my card right away. The bank issued a new credit card within 10 days and have been swiping it since then.
This has been learning for me and I will be even more careful while transacting on international portals.
I would like to share some cautious tips hoping such a situation not to happen with you:
1. An InternetSecuritySuite is highly recommended, if not atleast an Antivirus. Do remember that security suites are not "fill-it-forget-it" applications, you need to ensure from time to time that the program license and virus database is updated. (An expired license will deactivate the antivirus and will make your system vulnerable to the WWW). You can download Avast Antivirus (www.avast.com) etc or buy a copy of the same.
2. Do not transact on multiple PC's until its something very urgent. The reason is pretty much like driving someone else's car. You dont know what the existing problems are in it and you might end up paying for any resultant damages because of you. Always try transacting only on your system or mobile phone.
3. If you use a mobile phone for monetary transactions, be sure to install a mobile antivirus. There are a couple of free mobile antiviruses as well as paid ones (Try Kaspersky mobile).
4. Gone are the days when we used only one web browser, currently we are spoilt by options. We have IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari etc. and almost all of them come with custom addons/extensions to make your online life easier. Though all addons/extensions have disclaimers like they wouldn't peep into your browsing data and behavior, but to stay on a safer side why believe them? Always do digital transactions on only one browser and ensure that you are using the most updated version of the browser with no addons/extensions installed.
5. If you intend to make an international transaction prior to it call the bank's customer care and ensure the protection the bank has implemented so that the transaction is fraud free.
I will update the list as and when I come across any future changes to my secure surfing habits.
Your comments/feedback are welcomed.
Deb
