With so many frauds prevalent today, it’s important to understand how to safely use an ATM card. Here are some must-know tips you should know!
ATM cards are a convenient and quick way to access your money when you need it, but they can also leave you vulnerable to fraud if you’re not careful.
ATM card is linked to your bank account so that you can acess it and do transaction. As such, there’s a chance that if fraudsters can acess your card then your account may be at his disposal.
Here are some tips on how to use your ATM card securely so that you can protect yourself against financial loss.
Memorize your PIN number and never share it with anyone.
Your PIN number is your first line of defense when it comes to protecting your ATM card and the money you have in your bank account. To make sure no one can use your ATM card without your knowledge, it’s important that you securely memorize your PIN number and never reveal it to anyone, not even family or close friends.
PIN Management
PIN management is something we often neglect. Its advisable to put some time on it. Easy way to manage your PIN code are as under-
- Change the PIN at regular interval. You can do it on monthly or as required from time to time.
- Do not keep PIN that is guessable. Make it easy to remember but hard to crack sort of PIN.
- Do not share the PIN code to anyone.
- Do not scribble it, rather remember it.
Check the ATM machine for any suspicious activity before inserting your card.
Before you use an ATM, make sure you check the machine for any suspicious activity such as damage or tampering. It’s also a good habit to familiarize yourself with the type of ATM you are using, that way you can check for mismatched components if anything seems out of place.
In addition, take note of your surroundings and if you ever feel unsafe when at the ATM, trust your gut and don’t proceed with the transaction.
Doing this might safe you from card skimming fraud. In this type of fraud, the fraudster place a card skimmer in the ATM card swiping panel. It is capable of
Avoid carrying large sums of cash while using an ATM machine.
It’s not advised to carry large sums of cash when using an ATM as it could make you vulnerable to a potential theft.
If possible, take precautions such as keeping your withdrawals to a minimum when out shopping or using the ATM machine.
Additionally, if you are planning on withdrawing larger amounts of money, you should do so at well-lit and secure ATMs located in banks or other trusted venues.
Avoid Shoulder Surfing
Shoulder surfing is someone trying to get details of your card over the shoulder when you do ATM transaction.
Whenever you are entering your PIN number into the keypad, it’s important to remember to shield the keypad with your body or hand. This is especially true if someone might be looking over your shoulder at the screen.
Don’t forget to take all of your receipts when finished and consider keeping a record of all transactions on paper or in an online account book. Additionally, it’s critical that you change your PIN code from time-to-time for maximum security.
SMS Alert Is Crucial
Activate SMS banking or mobile banking to work with alerts and keep a secure track of your transactions.
By doing so you will receive alerts whenever a transaction is made with your card. This will help keep track of your transactions and protect against any unauthorized use of your ATM card.
Additionally, this feature can be used to block the card in the event it is lost or stolen.
Not only ATM card transaction alert, all sorts of transactions both debit and credit will be informed to you. Additional feature of linking email ID to your account is also helpful.
When either one fails, you would get the message anyhow. If SMS fails, you get email alert.
Tricks Fraudsters Use
If you know these, you are 100 percent safe from ATM card frauds. In fact, there are some of the ways fraudster commonly use to defraud card users all over the world. If you take care of few things, it might shield you from any unauthorised access to your account.
The techniques that fraudsters used are-
- Phishing
- Vishing
- Shoulder Surfing
- Card Skimming
- Maleware attack
Avoid Using Card When You’ve Doubts
You see, when something bad is going to happen, we always know it. There is a kind of feelings that would give signs of warning which we normally neglect thinking it must be okay.
Consoling our minds to believe in what it presents. It’s advisable that such situation ever occur to you and you have the slightest of doubts, stop doing it right away.
Go to other places where you feel much safer. It goes same with the online platforms. When you buy things online, certain websites are infested with fraudsters and cone artist.
Just to be on safe side, do online shopping from the reliable source only. If you go for sites which you can not verify it’s authenticity, choose cash on delivery instead of handing out your card details.
Online Card Management System
Do you know that you can manage your ATM card uses online? Card management in the sense that you set card limit of your choice. Deactivate/activate specific type of card transaction. These can be done through internet banking where most of the banks provide the card management facility.
Some of the things you can do online are
- ATM card limit setting.
- ATM PIN change.
- Uses of channel seeting.
- Block/unblock international uses.
- Card blocking/hotlisting/unblocking etc.