You're making it easy for fraudsters!

By being sloppy with our PIN, many of us are making life far too easy for the scammers!

Being smart with your credit cards normally means keeping on top of how you use them, making sure you keep your spending and balance transfer cards separate and ensuring you pay them off before the 0% interest period comes to an end.

However, being safe with your cards is important too, yet many of us are making some seriously stupid errors that put out identities, as well as our bank balances, at risk.

Struggling with numbers

A new study by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk has found that 18% of Brits – just shy of one in five of us – change the PIN for their debit or credit cards so that it is the same as their birthday. Around two-thirds of the Brits that do this argue they need a ‘memorable number’.

This is a seriously stupid thing to do. If a thief nicks your wallet, besides your various credit cards, chances are there will be some personal information – your driving licence perhaps – with your date of birth on it. And there’s a pretty good chance that, having found that information, your date of birth will be the first PIN they try when attempting to separate you from your hard earned cash.

Of course you need a memorable PIN – paying for your shopping is a little difficult if you go blank when it’s time to input your number – but that doesn’t mean you have to opt for such an obvious number!

Keeping it consistent

Another troubling result from the survey was that half of all respondents with more than one credit card said they kept the same PIN across the various cards. 81% of those surveyed said they did this in order to avoid confusion.

While this isn’t quite as worrying as having your birthday as a PIN, it’s still not the smartest thing to do. All it takes is for a fraudster to find out the PIN for one card, and then they have access to the cash in ALL of your accounts!

By all means ensure you have memorable numbers for your credit cards. But that’s numbers, plural, not just a memorable number!

Don’t write it down!

However, the survey result that really had me tearing out my hair (or what’s left of it) was the fact that 13% said they keep their PIN written down in their wallet or purse, while 17% save the number in their mobile phone (eg under 'Pin' or 'Barclays').

To say this is asking for trouble is a huge understatement. Your credit cards, and the PIN required to use them, should never be in the same place! And if you really have to use your mobile phone to remember your PIN, at least be subtle about it – don’t save the four digits under the name Halifax for example!

Sharing your PIN

I love my wife dearly, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual, but if you think I’m telling her – or anyone else for that matter – what my PIN is, you must be mad.

If you’re applying for a balance transfer credit card, make sure you follow these top tips.

However, the survey revealed that secrecy is not that important to many of us when it comes to our credit cards. Almost two-thirds said that their partner knew the numbers to access their cash, while one in five (21%) have shared their PIN with their friends, and a frankly insane 3% have told work colleagues!

The security of your PIN relies entirely on you telling as few people as possible what it is – what happens if you break up with your partner, or fall out with that friend? Should they end up in possession of your card, your lackadaisical attitude towards keeping your PIN secret could bite you on the backside.

Sadly, there are a number of other daft things that we do with our credit cards that make it all too easy for the fraudsters.

Don’t let it out of sight!

One of the ways that credit card fraud is committed involves your card disappearing from view. When you are paying at a restaurant or shop, if your credit card disappears from view, it’s then ripe to be cloned.

And the first you’ll know of it is when your bill arrives and the scammers have spent a fortune.

Staying safe online

Another seemingly permanent problem involves the use of your card when shopping online. If the webpage is not secure, then who knows who can see your details – and make the most of your money?

Allergic to shredding

It’s not just the credit card itself - we also need to be protective of the credit card statements that arrive in the post.

Too many of us simply bin the statements without a second thought, handing over our personal details to any fraudster willing to go through our bins. We all need to be very vigilant over shredding those statements if we’re not planning on keeping them!

Tactics to beat fraudsters

In a recent article, one lovemoney.com reader Vern54 shared a clever tactic you can use to protect your cards and get your own back on scammers:

"I had my wallet stolen and was glad I had written the codes down. WHY? Because they were seven four number sequences made to look like ATM codes (I had seven cards in there - not all money cards but all needing codes). The thief obligingly tried the codes in an ATM and the cards were all retained. Okay I lost £20 in cash, but the cards could not be used. So write down some random number to look like codes and keep them in your wallet."

Do you have any similar tactics that you use to try to beat the fraudsters? If so, please share them using the comments box below!

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