PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM CREDIT CARD SCAMS WHEN WE DINE OUT

NU #8 PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM CREDIT CARD SCAMS WHEN WE DINE OUT

I was talking to a friend the other day and he was furious with what happened to him in a restaurant.  He was charged twice, on the same date, same time, with different amounts at the same restaurant.  It was a good thing that he takes time to read his credit card statements.  How it happened, we have no idea.  It was a good thing that the credit card provider acted right away. 

How can we protect ourselves from unscrupulous people who make a living out of credit card scams? Did it cross our minds that there are a lot of things that might have taken place already in the few minutes that our cards were not with us?  Do we bother to get the copy of our credit card receipts which have our number on it?  What if identity thieves have access to it?  All they have to do is look for our address in the net and if they are that lucky, it will be right in front of their faces in no time.  A few weeks later, we get our credit card statement with all sorts of purchases we did not make.  It is a good idea to always get our receipts, shred them regularly including outdated statements, bills and all the things with our personal information before tossing them in the garbage.

Another safety net is to always have the card with you.  It would be better if dining facilities will have ambulant credit card swipers.  Rather than the waiter asking for your card and returning it with the bill for you to sign, why not have ambulant cashiers who will have the card swiper on hand so that he can swipe the card in front of the customer? In that way, all card users will be protected.  The chance for someone taking note of the security code will be almost nil if we have the card with us instead of the waiter bringing it to the cashier.  It should not even cost the establishment because credit card providers should make it a point to provide certain number of the portable machines/swipers.