Protect Yourself from Credit Card Theft

With millions of credit cards and credit card numbers stolen every year, the very thought of something like this happening to you is enough to make any cardholder cringe. As a reality that must be faced, many people often wonder about the aftermath and what can be done to protect themselves. In many cases if your card was stolen and you are able to prove that purchases were made by someone other than yourself, you will have protection under law outlined in the Fair Credit Billing Act.

Under this law, if unauthorized charges are made with your credit card before you report your card as lost or stolen, your credit card issuer can charge the cardholder up to $50. If the charges are made after you report the card lost or stolen, you have no liability. In any case if you think that you credit card may be stolen it would be best to contact your issuer as soon as possible.

In some cases if a cardholder that has had their credit card stolen needs to deduct the loss on their tax form there are certain steps that need to be followed to ensure a graceful process. These can be found in a question and answer session on Bankrate.com entitled, "Deducting Credit Card Theft Loss". As you will see, the process is not long but you will need to show certain paperwork and fill out the correct IRS Form.