Accessing Your Credit Card Account Online

Be safe online when accessing your account online

There are risks when accessing your financial information online - including your bank account and Credit Card Account. There are precautions that you can take to help prevent identity theft and fraudulent transactions on your account.

In the old days of computer viruses, they were simply written for fun or to do malicious damage to your computer. Within the last two years, the trend has moved towards making money; which includes the theft of your identity or stealing money from your bank account.

A particular type of computer virus called a Trojan Horse is designed to do just that. Sophisticated viruses are now being written that have knowledge of hundreds of banks and have the capability of accessing your information and even transferring money from your account without your knowledge.

There are precautions that you can take to reduce your risk of becoming infected with one of these viruses and then having your identity or money stolen.

• Install Antivirus software on your computer. It's not expensive and if you're running Microsoft Windows, Microsoft now provide free Antivirus software called Microsoft Security Essentials
• Ensure you keep the software on your computer up-to-date.
• Don't click on links in emails or open attachments that are sent to you. This is the most common way for distributing viruses. We'd also recommend not using Microsoft Outlook as your email client. Thunderbird is a great, free alternative.
• Think about your behaviour on the Internet. The more promiscuous you are in your Internet usage, the more likely you are to pick up a virus.
• Don't do your Internet banking on the same computer that your kids use. With all their social networking and exploring on the Internet, children are at high risk of getting viruses on the computers that they use.
• Can you dedicate a computer to just Internet banking? Sounds extreme, but worth considering if you are able to. An even better approach is to only do your Internet banking and other sensitive work on a computer that is booted from what's often referred to as a Live CD, and Ubuntu is a great and free solution for this. Each time you switch on your computer, it's a fresh start and there's no opportunity for viruses or other malicious software to get hold of you.

For more useful tips about using your Credit Card online, read our article Credit Card Internet Security

Read more Credit Card Articles by MyCreditCardGuide.co.uk

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