One of the most popular methods of payment today is an online payment because you can buy whatever you want from the comfort of your home, and without annoying lines in stores. Also, online stores became especially popular this year, during the pandemic of coronavirus, because it is much safer to get a delivery than going to store by yourself. You can order almost everything today, from groceries, medicals, and all other types of products. On the other hand, the important question is related to the security of online payments. There is a great number of people who are relaxed about buying things online, without considering that someone might abuse the data they leave on some website, and steal the number of bank account, which can lead to money theft, and other issues. In recent years, with the wide use of smartphones, we have many apps and websites that are compatible with our phones, and we can make all kinds of purchases that way.
Today, most of the things that we buy online are paid by phone. Also, there are many video games like Hearthstone, PUBG, Call of Duty Mobile, and more, where you have an option to buy various upgrades for better performance. Also, online casinos are very popular these days, especially because you can get a great bonus when you register for the first time on most online gambling platforms, visit Ted Bingo to see some of the best deals today. Unlike popular online casinos and many other apps, you should be aware that some websites might abuse your data, and that it is not safe to leave details of your debit card to some unknown site. In this article, we are going to analyze more about safety when you give your debit card details over the phone.
Risks of Phone Payments
When we speak about potential online frauds, most people would think about hackers. However, the biggest threat when it comes to phone payments is related to people who are working in companies and have access to card numbers of many people. Also, there is still a possibility for many other types of scams, like bugging the phone or getting access to some database full of data related to people’s bank accounts and numbers of their debit cards.
When it comes to a possible scam and steal of your debit card number, there is the highest possibility that the worker in the company where you are buying something could abuse the number your provided to them. Also, online paying is much more secure than phone payment because the whole process is automatic, and no one personally should have access to your bank account data. During the process of phone payment, the employee on the other side of the line needs to write the number of your debit card. In that matter, there is a possibility that he could save that number for himself and commit fraud. However, that is a criminal offense, and the police would quickly find that person and prosecute him.
Unknown Organizations
We can see identity thieves are one of the commonest ways of scamming in this day and age. Surely, the form they use to scam people is often represented as an organization that’s legit and follows all the regulations. Therefore, sometimes it can happen that the line between a proper organization and fraud can be barely seen. So, you need to be extra careful when you are sharing your financial information with organizations that are not as transparent as they should be.
We can see that there are quite a lot of these. This method of picking victims is called phishing and is one of the commonest online frauds you can be targeted by. These scams can be either done by phone or by e-mail. They can pretend to be either your card issuer or your bank. Surely, the information you will be asked for is crucial financial information that you need to be careful with whom you are sharing them. Therefore, it goes without saying that you need to be extra careful.
Potential Mistakes
Sometimes it can happen that the unwanted result of sharing financial data is not related to the fraud itself. Instead, it can happen that an employee can make a mistake that can cost your dearly. When we say an employee, we are talking about a person that works at your bank or your card issuer. Without a doubt, this is a pretty realistic scenario. At the same time, there is the danger of the database being breached by hackers. Of course, there are other ways this misuse can happen, however, we think that the biggest possibility is that something like this can happen. We are living in the digital age, don’t we?
Naturally, we are talking about the responsibility of a company that hasn’t been regulated properly, or some of the employees made a crucial mistake at some moment. Therefore, giving your information and the potential misuse isn’t directly tied to you, and you cannot do much about it. Thankfully, we can see that the highest percentage of companies have their security levels on the highest possible level and they are able to defend themselves from these attacks. However, there is a small percentage of the chance that this might happen sometimes.
How Big is the Threat?
We can see that this telephone payment fraud is pretty common these days. It can be said that there is nothing strange about it since we are talking about phones, who are the commonest way of communication. Even though there are a plethora of other ways you can get scammed, this is surely one of the commonest ones. Thankfully, the level of security is at a pretty high level, as we’ve mentioned above. However, there is that small percentage of chance that can actually make the difference in these cases. So you need to be extra careful about the organizations and people with whom you are sharing your financial information. We cannot stress enough how being careful in these situations really is.