Keeping your card safe while you use it requires vigilance and a fair amount of common sense. Whether you’re buying books online, ordering clothes by phone or walking into a local restaurant for a bite to eat, there are some key things you’ll want be aware of in order to protect yourself and your account.

Online
Be careful when shopping or giving out information online. There are two main things you can do to ensure that you’re shopping in a safe environment.

• If you’re sharing computers or using a public computer, make sure you clear the cookies and delete any temporary Internet files from the computer before you leave it.
• Only shop on secure websites. How do you know if a website is secure? Look for two things:
  1. a yellow lock in the lower right-hand corner of your browser
  2. the 's' on the end of http: in the URL line of your browser.
• If you don’t see these, find someplace else to shop.

By Phone
When you make purchases over the phone:

• The company you are ordering from will ask for the full card number, the expiration date, as well as your name as it appears on the card. That means if your middle initial shows, you should include it. They might also ask for the three digit number on the back. The security code (referred to as CVV2 or Card Verification Value) helps validate that you actually have the card in front of you as you place the order and that the account is legitimate.
• Think about where you are and who might be able to hear you. Don’t place credit card orders in crowded or public places. It would be way too easy for someone nearby to hear you and write down all of the information you are providing over the phone and use it again later to make unauthorized purchases.

In Store
When using your credit card to make purchases in a store, restaurant or gas station:

• Ensure your printed receipt doesn’t have your full credit card number on it. Believe it or not some merchants still have older credit card systems that will reproduce your entire card number (rather than just the last four digits, which is more common) onto your receipt. If the receipt does have your whole card number on it, be sure to keep it safe or destroy it immediately.
• Watch the cashier to ensure that he or she isn’t writing down your number, taking a picture of your card or in any other way copying your card outside of the system the merchant uses for processing credit card transactions.

At Home
Financial institutions are continually working to stay ahead of the criminals and protect card holders, but you need to do your part as well. Here are three key things you can do to ensure that your credit card accounts are better protected:

• Keep a copy of all your identification and credit cards front and back in a safe place at home, so that you will have the 1-800 numbers and account numbers for your cards in case your purse or wallet is stolen.
• If your card is lost or stolen or you think you’re a victim of fraud, notify your issuing financial institution immediately.
• Keep all of your monthly credit card statements in a safe place. Especially if you share an apartment, share a dorm room, or rent a room in a house that has a lot of visitors, be sure that you don't leave your credit card statements lying out in the open. In the wrong hands, your credit card statement is as good as the card in terms of gaining access to your account.