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As fewer transactions are made with cash, the use of credit cards—and their use online, in particular—continues to climb. This trend accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, when surging demand for electronic payment options impacted trends in shopping and sales.
With increased credit card usage comes an increase of credit card scams. Scammers look to take advantage of a growing comfort with remote payment options, a spike in the volume of online sales and an increase in the number and variety of people who’ve turned to the Internet to make transactions formerly completed in person. Here are six common scams and how to wise up quickly to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.
1. Overcharge Scams
An email, text or call comes in to the target claiming his or her credit card has been overcharged for some product or service. In order to be properly refunded, the target is informed they must follow steps that include revealing sensitive information.
How It Works
The alleged overcharge might appear connected to a product or service the scammer has already identified their target uses, but it’s much more likely for the scam to mimic a service that’s common—a popular streaming platform, like Netflix or Spotify—that random targets are more likely to be customers of.
If the alleged overcharge is…
