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Australia has over 100,000 e-commerce trading transactions going on every day. The importance of securing your credit card could not be emphasized more, given the fact that the majority of the e-commerce transactions are done through credit cards. Figures from the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) show the credit card fraud rate was 45 cents per $1,000 in 2007, but in 2008 it had climbed to 53 cents. Some precautions could be taken to prevent Credit card fraud.

One suggestion would be to sign the credit cards as soon as you get hold of it. One must take care to keep an eye on the credit at all times during a transaction with a vendor, to avoid being a victim of credit card skimming. It is also important to make the incorrect receipts void and also to shred duplicate copies of actual transaction receipts. Equal amount of importance should be given to securing the original copies of the credit card transaction receipts, facilitating comparison of billing statements with receipts. Any suspicious or unexpected charges in the billing statement should be reported to the credit card company as soon as possible.

It is important to check the security certificates of websites before proceeding to give out credit card details. Further it is always a good practice to apprise the credit card companies about any change of billing address in order to avoid the bills getting into wrong hands. If one suspects of being a victim of the credit card fraud it is prudent to file an official complaint with the police immediately.

Some of the don’ts of the credit card usage include sharing the card with friends and relations, giving out the credit card number over the phone, writing the credit card number absent mindedly in scrap sheets or post cards. Finally, a general awareness about the ways in which your credit card information could be compromised and exploited is essential to be impervious to credit card fraud.

Credit card skimming is one of the most alarming crimes of the electronic fund transfer era. It is the process of obtaining the details of a credit card by using an illegitimate card reader, which is called a skimmer. This skimmer is usually concealed behind the actual card reader to record the private information associated with a credit card. The skimmer which is usually designed to store a large bulk of credit card information is used by a corrupt employee to copy the details of the credit card. He/she then sells it online to an accomplice who uses the credit card information for either duplicating fake cards or to use the details of the cards directly in e commerce transactions.

Credit card skimming primarily involves the use of the fake reader device by an employee without the knowledge of the customer or a hidden device like a camera in a credit card terminal could be used to bug the card. The evolution of the technologies has given rise to the smaller size skimming devices which are far easier to conceal.  Use of blue tooth devices and fake keyboards to get the PIN used by the users is an increasingly used skimming scheme in ATMs. Formerly prevalent in northern America and Asia skimming has spread to Australia. Australians lose up to 500m AUD per year because of credit card frauds and skimming accounts to almost half of it.

The best piece of advice to avoid being a victim of credit card skimming is to keep the card at sight at all times, trying to examine the credit card reader for any unusual design and to keep a close watch on credit card receipts. Once you suspect of being a victim of a credit card fraud it is imperative that the police be informed immediately along with the credit card issuing organization. The sooner the police acts on the crime, lesser the liability vested with the credit card holder. Thus constant vigilance and faster action is the solution to reduce the risks involved with credit card skimming.

When ever you read through your credit card statement you get confused. The only thing you could make out is the amount you have to pay by a certain date. Here’s some help for every Australian to actually read their credit card statement and use it appropriately. A credit card statement usually shows the elements listed below:

1. Your credit card number
2. The statement date
3. Billing cycle and billing date
4. The total amount due
5. The minimum amount due. This amount is generally 2-5% of your balance.
6. Payment due date. This is the date by then you must pay the whole or at least the minimum amount due.
7. Previous balance. This is the carried forward amount from previous months.
8. Transaction details of the purchases made i.e. your account summary. This shows the details about the purchases you made, where you have used your credit card during the current billing period.
9. The bill also contains your credit summary.
10. Reward points.
11. Late payment fee or interest charges, if applicable
12. Service Tax, if applicable
13. Credit card company’s contact information
14. Different payments options like cash, cheque and all the addresses where you can drop the cheque.
15. You will find customer service and lost/stolen card reporting telephone numbers, as well as the mailing address for correspondence regarding disputes and payments.
16. Cash advance limit
17. Credit limit
18. Available credit limit

The credit summary shows details about your total credit limit, available credit limit, cash limit and available cash limit on your credit card. The calculation is done like this:
Available cash limit = Total cash limit – Cash amount used.
For example, if your total cash limit was 10,000 and you used or withdrew 2,000, your available cash limit will be 8,000 now.