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Website # 1 - If you are a victim of financial fraud..

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Website # 1 - If you are a victim of financial fraud..

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Credit/Debit Fraud is a means of manipulating with someones financial information for your own gain. Fraud can happen to anybody and at any time. This article is a great proof of that. It outlines the author's reaction, though process and moments leading them to report the unauthorized transactions. He details his frustration and as well as remedies he will take going forward to prevent this from happening to him again. This is a great article as it is written from an average person making the content very relatable.

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March was Fraud Prevention Month. How fitting then, that I was a victim of fraud.

While I don't know if this was in any way related to the Heartbleed bug, which apparently left over 60 per cent of all websites on the internet vulnerable to electronic eavesdropping of sensitive information, it's a reminder that being diligent with online security is a two-way street. (Read The Globe's explainer of how Heartbleed works and what passwords might be most at risk.)

I usually check my online bank accounts once a week. On Monday, March 24th I noticed a $1,945.18 charge from the previous week that I had no recollection of making. The transaction showed that a purchase had been made on Air Canada's website with my RBC VISA credit card. For a minute, I thought that I had erroneously made a purchase while doing research for a recent travel story. Could I have been careless enough when I was comparing prices to have accidentally purchased a ticket?

After logging in to my profile with Air Canada's site, there were no transactions on file. At that point I realized that much of my day would be spent sorting this out. But if my credit card had been compromised, I knew it was necessary to drop everything and handle this immediately.

First I called RBC and they instructed me to contact Air Canada's customer service and get as much information as possible. This call to RBC only lasted three minutes, including hold time. That's one great thing about my credit card customer service lines - they are fast.

Air Canada, on the other hand, is a different story. Over the years, I've had to call in to change flights or use credits and I honestly can't remember a time when I waited less than 45 minutes to speak to a live agent. One day I'll luck out and call during a period of normal call volumes. Since I knew I was in for a long wait time, I reached out to them on Twitter to see if there was any way to shorten the ordeal. No luck. While the Twitter interaction with Air Canada's social media team helped ease my mind, it didn't ultimately speed up the process.

After being on hold for more than 50 minutes, I gave Air Canada the confirmation number on the credit card transaction and they gave me the name booked on a return ticket from Montreal to Paris. The name wasn't mine. I had indeed been compromised. The airline told me they would follow up with law enforcement, and that I should follow up with RBC.

My second phone call to RBC took 11 minutes, including hold time. I reported the incident and escalated it to their fraud department, who briefly interviewed me. The next day, the charge was reversed and by Friday of that week I had in my possession a brand new card with a new account number.

Since I had no way of knowing how my card had been compromised and whether this was an isolated incident, I immediately ordered new credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion. To get them right away, I paid for online access. The TransUnion report cost $30.85 while Equifax was $23.95. The price was worth the peace of mind. Nothing out of the ordinary showed up.

Once the scare and hassle were over, ironing out this fraud incident took two hours from beginning to end. With the minor aggravation of the Air Canada wait time, both the bank and the airline did a great job handling it.

But before you can start dealing with an incident of fraud, you have to detect it. How? At the very least you should read through every line of the transactions on all your monthly financial statements. I opt for electronic statements but prefer to check mine weekly. When you get used to it, it takes barely takes a minute, and you'll have a rough idea of how much you owe. I find it also helps me stay on top of my finances.

In order to prevent fraud, here are some handy tips to keep in mind:

1.) Always cover your PIN, even if no-one is around. Some scams involve pin-hole cameras recording you enter your number
2.) Don't use the same password or PIN for everything
3.) Regularly review all your financial statements for accuracy
4.) If your mailbox is easily accessible, don't let mail pile up. Canada Post has a Hold Mail service you can use when away for extended periods of time
5.) Don't discard mail that contains sensitive information or offers of credit without destroying it first

I have to imagine that if my card had more than just one fraudulent charge, those two hours could have turned into days. If you're not regularly double checking your financial transactions, I highly recommend starting. An ounce of diligence each month might save you a pound of headache.

Preet Banerjee, a personal finance expert, is the host of Million Dollar Neighbourhood on The Oprah Winfrey Network and author of the new book, Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! Follow him on Twitter at @preetbanerjee.

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If you are a victim of financial fraud, like I was, here's what to do

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His credit card was billed almost $2,000 for an airplane ticket. Here's how he ironed out the mess and some tips on how to prevent this from happening to you

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'Credit and Debit Fraud" by Charlotte Munoko

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'Credit and Debit Fraud" by Charlotte Munoko

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"Wongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain." - Oxford Dictionary

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This picture spoke out to me because it shows someone being under oath of some sort. They appear to be truthful but have their fingers crossed counteracting what they are saying. This is exactly what scammers do they get in the head of victims building a bond where they trust this individual. Fraud is bigger than just credit and debit card, it can also lead to identity theft. If you are unsure you should always take a couple of seconds to verify and ask questions

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Website # 3 Resolving an Unauthorized Transaction

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Website # 3 Resolving an Unauthorized Transaction

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This website outlines how to resolve an unauthorized transaction. It could be quite a shock when receiving your credit card statement or even your banking statements to seeing a large purchase or multiple that you don't recall making. This website details and directs you on how to make that first step to recovering the funds illegally obtained by the fraudster. In addition to how financial institution deals with what they call unauthorized transactions.

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Recognizing an unauthorized transaction

Generally, any banking or credit card transaction that you didn't make or approve is an unauthorized transaction.

Unauthorized transactions may occur when your debit or credit card is lost or stolen. Someone could also steal your identity and use your information to make transactions without your knowledge or consent.

Each financial institution, such as a bank, may define unauthorized transactions differently. Read your credit card, debit card and account agreements carefully to make sure you understand what is considered an unauthorized transaction.

Reporting an unauthorized transaction

If you think an unauthorized transaction was made using your card or your account, or if there is a risk of this happening:

change your passwords immediately

notify your bank or credit card issuer immediately

report any transactions you didn't make or approve

check your credit report for any credit you didn't apply for

In some cases, you may need to report the incident within a specific amount of time, as specified in your agreement. If you don't, you may be held responsible for the transaction and you may not get the full amount back.

For deposit accounts, such as chequing or savings accounts, you usually have 30 days after the date of your statement to dispute a transaction. However, this could differ from one bank to another.

When you report an unauthorized transaction, credit card issuers must always thoroughly investigate the incident.

Paying for an unauthorized transaction

In most cases, you will not be held responsible for transactions you didn't make or approve.

Unauthorized debit card transaction

You're protected against unauthorized transactions when you use debit card services in store, at a point-of-sale terminal or at an ATM. You should immediately report any unauthorized transaction to your bank.

If you took the necessary steps to protect your PIN, you should get your money back.

You're not responsible for losses that result from circumstances beyond your control, which include:

technical problems, for example, the ATM didn't give you the full amount of cash you asked for, but still deducts the amount requested from the account

unauthorized transactions, as long as you didn't contribute to the loss by not taking the necessary steps to protect your PIN

You could be responsible for losses in situations where you contribute to or encourage unauthorized use of your card.

You could be liable for losses if you:

use your date of birth or telephone number as your PIN

told your card's PIN to someone else, including a family member

keep a written record of the PIN "in proximity to" the card, including writing your PIN on the back of the card

didn't report your card as being lost or stolen in the amount of time specified in your card agreement

refuse to cooperate in an investigation of unauthorized use

made fraudulent deposits with your card

didn't take the necessary steps to protect your pin

Read your card agreement to make sure you know your responsibilities when using a debit card.

Unauthorized credit card transaction

When an unauthorized transaction is made with your credit card, your maximum liability, by law, can't be more than $50.00. Your credit card agreement must explain your maximum liability if your card is used without your permission.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Interac have committed to protect you against financial loss if your credit or debit card is used without your permission. According to this public commitment, you will not be held responsible for the unauthorized transactions and won't have to pay any fee.

Learn more about these commitments and policies.

Making a complaint about an unauthorized transaction

All federally regulated financial institutions (FRFI) must have a complaint-handling procedure in place.
Learn how to file a complaint with your financial institution.
Related links

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personal finance; consumer protection; regulations; fraud

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Criminals may try to steal your personal information and use it to approve transactions on your financial accounts.

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The internet is defined as a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols according to the Oxford Dictionary. The internet was a blessing and a curse, fraudsters have mastered it by sending malware to e-mail again creating a sense of urgency and attack to obtain information. Through internet websites as previously seen, they are able to protect their identity with the purchase of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins.

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Scammers need to get smarter and smarter in order to combat the road blocks put against them to get the information they need. In the latest ways of obtatining this information, scammers have often called pretending to act on behalf of financial institution mentionning security breaches. They create a sense of urgency and panic that they need to ensure they are speaking to the right person using this against you as an individual or even company. NEVER share your information over the phone, always ensure to check the number and take down as much information you can and transmit it to your financial institution which will send it to their "phishing" department.

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In this website you'll find information on what credit and debit fraud. In addition to how to protect yourself from being a victim.

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This video was an eye opener to hear from a former fraudster  detailing how they stole information. This video truly  shows how vulnerable, how unreating a longer password with special characters that will save you from being a victim.educated and oblivious some consumers are to fraud. Education is key to protecting yourself as well as being vigilant in your every day behaviour. Its the extra seconds you take protecting your pin or creating a longer password with special characters that will save you from being a victim.

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An Interview With A Former Credit Card Scammer

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This video shares interesting facts such as Canadians being the highest debit card users in the world. With that many transactions going on it is even more important for Canadians to know how to protect themselves and safeguard their information from scammers. As well the video shows  through role play how scammers obtain our information and their some of their tactics.

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Canadians are among the highest users of debit cards in the world. While over 99 per cent of debit transactions each year are made without incident, we still need to protect ourselves. Debit card fraud costs millions of dollars every year. It's a threat that can hit anywhere.

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This video is from the perspective of a credit card scammer. They explain how for them its a means of survival trying to feed their families. They outline how they use crypto currencies such as bitcoins to purchase people's information which they then fabricate on cards to make purchases from to later sell the goods. The crypto-currency allows them to remain anonymous and makes it harder to track as these are black market websites.

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Gangs on the Dark Web: Credit Card Scammers

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This website outlines the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services and its practices.  This website is useful as it allows you to understand how you're protected as a consumer from these vicious attacks. It outlines details that educate the consumer on who forks out the bill in a certain scenario. Fraudsters are extremely skilled but with that being said there are regulations in place to protect us from them. It's important to know your rights if the financial institution were ever to oppose responsibility.

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consumer connection; debit card fraud; debit card; fraud; liability

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Debit Card Fraud - When would you be liable for losses? - Office of Consumer Affairs

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Protecting Yourself Against Debit Card Fraud - When would you be liable?

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Throughout most of this presentation we touched base on the consumer, being a victim and what was in place to protect us. This video looks at the other side of things which is the merchant. The merchant and financial instituition are the ones that loose the most from credit/ debit card fraud. Not only do they have to fork out money to ensure they collect their funds back from the merchant they also may loose a banking customer as they felt they were let down and not protected

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Youve probably heard of debit and credit card fraud. But have you heard how to beat it? Watch this video by the Bank of Canada and its partners to see how you can protect your credit and debit cards. Be sure to check out more videos on our channel.