Tips and hacks to keep your debit cards safe
A clear sign of GLOBALIZATION is the amazing crossover and intermingling of cultural phenomena. This was vividly illustrated in the NETFLIX Cowboy movie titled 'The Harder They Fall. This is an unusual western movie – with cowboys and gunfights featuring a soundtrack heavy with Nigerian music.
Another clear example of this phenomenon has played out through November and will peak this Friday. This will be the now much-storied BLACK FRIDAY. This day originated in the United States, being the Friday after the US holiday of Thanksgiving.
Over time, this day became synonymous with heavy discounts by retailers and marked the beginning of the Christmas retail season. This phenomenon grew exponentially with the rise of e-commerce with Jumia in West Africa being key promoters.
Experts assert that approximately 40% of all retail during Black Friday occurs online, with $2.9 billion of sales happening through mobile phones and thus naturally it is no surprise that debit, prepaid or plastic cards are the primary means of payments.
As with all manner of convenient transactions, this period also sees a spike in malignant and customer - adverse activity on cards, it is estimated that about £15.4 million British pounds were lost in fraud during Black Friday / Christmas activity in 2019 alone with most of these being cyber-attacks.
At UMB – we have seen an uptick in these attacks locally. Customers fall prey to cloning, Fraudulent attacks, or scams that result in very expensive calamities. Based on our experience as a leading Cards provider, we have aggregated some tips that EVERY BANK CUSTOMER IN GHANA can apply to keep themselves safe during BLACK FRIDAY, CYBER MONDAY, and the entire Christmas period.
Check the status of your card and the fees and charges. UMB customers can easily do this at any UMB Branch across Ghana. This is key as you need to know whether your card is enabled for online or international transactions and the fees charged.
Search for deals on retailers' sites, and not by using search engines and social media pages, as scammers may “poison" the search results with malicious or deceptive links that could lure you in. Stick to retailers you know and, preferably, have shopped with before.
For your online shopping, preferably use prepaid cards with a set spending limit. This reduces the risks of being fully exposed financially especially when the site asks if it can save your card number for next time. Always decline the offer as this will help you avoid card compromises when the site gets hit by a data breach attack and the ingenuity of cybercriminals.
Bank statement regularly during the shopping season. If you notice transactions that do not match your online purchases, it could be that your account may have been compromised. If this happens to you, contact your bank or card issuer to investigate and suspend the card.
Shop from trusted vendors only and avoid clicking on deals that are too good to be true. This way, you can avert being a victim of cybercriminals, who may try to slip a lot of fake deals to unsuspecting shoppers who crave the lowest/ discount prices during this hyper shopping time.
To avoid getting redirected to fake sites that could be the brainchild of cybercriminals, always bookmark your preferred online retail shops or type in their web address yourself to verify their authenticity especially when you receive deals that come through to you via email or text message.
The temptation of using free Wi-Fi is very real and as such you will need to exercise caution when using public Wi-Fi during this season. The rule of thumb is to avoid entering your card information at the checkout by using online wallet services.
Never give your card to cashiers and store attendants. Rather ask for the point-of-sale (POS) terminal and insert, swipe, or tap your card yourself to avoid any malicious person getting any details off it. If the terminal allows, try and stick to contactless (tap-to-pay) payments.
Check a webpage's security by looking for the lock icon in the URL field and making sure the URL starts with "https", not just "http". The "s" means the site is safer and more secure.
Look out for flash messages requesting that you take immediate action and that you click a link to enter your personal details, especially payment information. Practice safe browsing habits to avoid being hacked by criminals.