Tips to Help Your Students Avoid Credit-Card Fraud

• A thief goes through your trash to find discarded receipts or carbons and then uses your account numbers illegally.
• A dishonest cashier makes an extra imprint from your credit card and uses it to make personal charges.
• You respond to a mailing asking you to call a long-distance number for a free trip or bargain-priced travel package. You are told you must join a travel club first and you are asked for your account number so you can be billed. The catch? Charges that you did not make are added to your bill, and you never get the trip.

Your students could be subject to any of these crimes, especially during the holiday season. Credit-card fraud costs cardholders and issuers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

You can help your students use their credit wisely and protect themselves from fraud. Here are a few steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission that students can take to make it more difficult for someone to capture their credit card or card numbers and to minimize the possibility of credit-card fraud:

Do:

• Sign your credit cards as soon as they arrive.
• Carry credit cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment, a business-card holder or another small pouch.
• Keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates, and the phone number and address of each credit-card company in a secure place.
• Keep an eye on your credit card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.
• Void incorrect receipts.
• Destroy carbons.
• Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
• Open bills promptly and reconcile accounts monthly, just as you would a checking account.
• Report any questionable charges promptly and in writing to the credit-card issuer.
• Notify credit-card companies in advance of a change in your address.

Don't:

• Lend your card(s) to anyone.
• Leave cards or receipts lying around.
• Sign a blank receipt. When you sign a receipt, draw a line through any blank spaces above the total.
• Write your account number on a postcard or on the outside of an envelope.
• Give your account number over the phone unless you are making the call to a company that you know is reputable. If you have questions about a company, check it out with your local consumer- protection office or Better Business Bureau.

Encourage your students to immediately call their credit-card issuer if they lose a credit card or realize it has been lost or stolen. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with such emergencies. By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges. In any event, your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card. If you suspect fraud, you may be asked to sign a statement under oath that you did not make the purchase in question.

To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, your students can visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Web site or call toll-free (877) FTC-HELP. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education has launched a new Web feature that advises students how to avoid identity theft.

To learn more about teaching your students how to use credit wisely and live within their means, review information about USA Funds^® Life Skills^®, USA Funds' financial-literacy program.