Is Applying for a Credit Card Online Safe?
According to the Federal Trade Commission
approximately 9 million Americans fall victim to some form of identity
theft each year.
Unfortunately there is no sure fire way to completely protect yourself
from thieves who may be out to steal your identity and tap your
financial resources. When considering whether or not to apply online for
a credit card because of the transfer or personal information it is
important to know the risk.
There are various ways thieves obtain personal information to commit the crime of identity theft. From dumpster diving, purse snatching, to high tech equipment anyone can fall victim to identity theft. Protecting your personal and credit card information is important and there are steps that can be taken to lessen your risk of being taken advantage of. If you are looking to apply for a credit card you should consider doing it online. It seems that the majority of credit card offers go through the mail and can easily fall into the wrong hands. By applying online for a credit card not only do you speed the process up but also you protect your personal information from individuals that may steal your mail.
There are several trustworthy institutions that
offer credit to consumers and they provide a safe, secure environment
that makes it easy to apply online for a credit card.
When visiting their site to fill out the credit application check
the web address and make sure that the “http” ends in an “s”, for
example it should read https://web-site-name.com.
The “s” at the end stands for “secure” meaning the website you
are on is protected and the chances of your personal information being
stolen is low
The one thing to look out for is emails that you receive from financial institutions or unknown individuals or companies that claim they need to verify personal information. You may have an account with that bank but chances are this could be an attempt to get you to reveal your personal information to a thief. Contact your financial institution over the phone to make sure this is legitimate. Thieves can make their email and even websites look like the real thing but all they are doing is trying to get your personal information. As a general rule I recommend refraining from email promotions, don’t click on their links. The best thing to do is simply delete them quickly. If you think it is from your bank then give them a call.
Following some basic common sense guidelines you can increase the chances of not falling victim to identity theft. If and when you do get a credit card, check your statements regularly for suspicious activity and if found report it immediately to the card issuer and credit reporting agencies.