According to the Internet security company Symantec many online credit card thieves sully the name of charity for the purposes of covering their tracks.
Millions of people have their credit cards stolen from simply dining out to disgruntled employees. These cards are usually sold in conjunction with personal info with the intent to defraud both the card’s owner and the credit card companies. Many of today’s cards come with some sort of fraud protection. The credit card companies have a department which monitors the pattern of charges, and if something out of the ordinary happens it immediately flags the transaction. Usually the owner of the card gets a call to verify the purchase before it can be completed.
Through no fault of the charities the criminals make small donations ($0.01 - $10) to charities to test the status of the cards.
Since the way charitable donations are handled they do not raise red flags with the credit card companies. After verifying the cards the criminals usually sell off the card for less than 0.01% of their credit limits. This would be nothing compared to the suffering it would cause the owner to repair the damage to their credit.
A few ways to protect your credit is to never use your credit card to pay for dining out, as your card can be charged even after you’ve left. And from the financial standpoint, using credit to buy perishable items isn’t wise. Also, buy a paper shredder with a cross-cut feature. Toss any documents with any value into your shredder. For an added effect toss in the content of your cats litter box into the bag and seal it. Never buy anything through an email advertisement, and never follow links inside emails (always type it yourself).
If something does get stolen, call all three credit reporting agencies and explain it to them, they’ll be able to tell you how to flag your account. The first thing to do when you notice your card missing is to call and report it stolen, and a delay in reporting could mean thousands.
Source doc informationweek
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