According to the Nilson Report, credit card fraud losses hit a remarkable $28.63 billion in 2022, indicating a surge in scammers’ theft from credit card users. In the digital era, it’s crucial to stay alert and safeguard yourself against credit card scams.

Scammers always come up with new tricks, but the most common ones involve unsolicited calls, emails, and text messages. They might pretend to be from your bank or credit card company or try to scare you into giving them your personal information by saying your account is compromised.

Regardless of the method scammers employ, their objective remains consistent: obtaining your credit card details. With this information, they can make unauthorized purchases or even commit identity theft.

Let’s review a few of the typical credit card scams and suggestions on how to prevent them.

Scams Involving Jury Duty and Law Enforcement

Scammers might contact you through phone calls, emails, or text messages, pretending to be from a nearby court or police department. They may falsely claim that you’ve missed jury duty or owe fines, asserting that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. They’ll insist that the only way to resolve the matter or pay the fines is by providing them with your credit card details.

Courts and police departments will never ask for payment over the phone, email, or text. If you receive such a communication, refrain from sharing personal information or making payments. Instead, promptly inform your local Clerk of Court’s office.

Scams Involving Debt Reduction Programs

This scam involves promising individuals immediate relief from credit card debt or reduced interest rates by the scammer in exchange for an upfront fee.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has flagged cases where scams target people with high credit card debt, promising to negotiate with creditors to reduce their debt. However, these scammers often don’t follow through and just charge large upfront fees without providing any real help. The FTC has taken legal action against many of these dishonest credit-related services.

Skimming Scams

Skimming scams occur when criminals install devices on gas pumps and ATMs to steal card numbers. For instance, in San Diego in 2022, three individuals were convicted and sentenced to prison for orchestrating a $1 million nationwide skimming fraud operation. They placed skimming devices on gas pumps and ATMs to capture personal account details from unsuspecting victims. Subsequently, they utilized the stolen data to produce counterfeit debit and credit cards, enabling them to withdraw funds from victims’ accounts or buy money orders from the post office.

Scams Involving Fraud Departments

Fraud department scams occur when scammers reach out to you, alleging that your card has been compromised. They then steal your information when you confirm the numbers and personal details. For instance, individuals have received calls from scammers posing as bank representatives, requesting verification, which has resulted in unauthorized transactions.

Another instance of this scam entails fraudsters posing as the IRS and sending phishing emails aimed at deceiving taxpayers into divulging personal and financial details. These emails, appearing as official correspondence from the IRS or affiliated entities, include links to a counterfeit website resembling the authentic IRS site.

Exercise caution regarding any unexpected phone calls or emails requesting your financial details, and avoid clicking on links in dubious emails. If you suspect you’ve been targeted by a scam, promptly update your IRS e-file login information.

Credit Card “Cleaning” Fraud

In the credit card cleaning scam, scammers promise to clean the magnetic strip on your card for better readability, but instead, they use this opportunity to skim and steal your account details. Victims are deceived into thinking their card is safe, only to discover unauthorized transactions afterwards.

Scams Involving Lotteries and Prizes

Scams related to lotteries and prizes occur when scammers inform individuals that they’ve won a lottery, sweepstakes, or prize, and then request payment or personal details in order to receive the winnings.

Utility Bill Payment Scams

Utility bill scams targeting late payments are highly convincing, with scammers pretending to be your utility provider and issuing threats of service termination unless an immediate payment is made. They commonly request payments via wire transfer, reloadable debit cards, gift cards, or cryptocurrencies, as these methods are challenging to track and nearly impossible to retrieve.