…but he is a pastor ‘Rosemary lamented’. She has just called
me from the UK for her account balance. I told her the balance but she argued
and told me what it should be. I ran through her account statement and gave her
the breakdown of transactions from the last time she was in Nigeria till that
date. I noticed that there were numerous ATM debit transactions just the week
before she called me and she was already in the UK. Is your ATM card with you?
‘I asked’. She said no and that it’s with her pastor who she instructed to
withdraw money monthly for her mother’s upkeep. But the pastor saw it as God’s
blessing and decided to use it for his daily upkeep. The rest of the story is
to be told in another edition. You can never trust anyone when it comes to
matters like this. This goes a long way to tell us that fraud is an
ever-growing problem and it is to our best interest to take necessary precautions.
To help reduce the risk of fraud and theft, here are few safety tips:
1
Do not disclose your PIN to anyone: Just as you
cannot share your tooth brush, do not share your PIN. Your PIN is your Personal
Identification Number and should not be told to anyone whether friends or family.
Most card misuse is traced to family and friends. Do not write it down or
discuss your PIN over the phone to anyone. This is where you will see most
couples in action…are we not one? What is yours is mine. Lol. Do not save your PIN with numbers that can be
easily identified like 2222, 1111 and 6666 or your birthdate, anniversary date
or social security number. When using your card at the ATM, be sure no one is
around you. If there are people around, block the view of others when entering
your PIN at and an ATM or any other terminal. When you want to swipe your card
at a shop, do not allow the attendant enter your PIN on your behalf.
2
Keep an eye on your card: Where a man’s treasure
is that is where his heart lies. Always go check on where you keep your card
occasionally. Change the position of where you keep your cards especially if
there are too many people in the house where you stay. Never let your card(s)
out of your sight. When doing a transaction, monitor your card with eyes (shine
your eyes). Do not lend your card to anyone…you are solely responsible for its
use.
Review your account statement frequently: I had
this customer that comes for his statement of account every week. I asked him
why he does that because I was beginning to see him as a pest and he said he
studies it (like it’s an anatomy text book). But he is right. And he will
disturb everyone in the bank if he is not satisfied with any transaction or its
narration (but the man too do oh). Reviewing your statement frequently will
help you notice any irregularities (like charges on orders or withdrawals or
even deposits you did not make) and report on time.
4 Hotlist your card immediately when you notice
you can’t find your card (misplaced), it’s been stolen or trapped in an ATM. It
is important to always have the telephone numbers (or hotlines) of your card
issuer. This will help minimize the chances of your card being used improperly
5 Activate mobile or email notifications: This
will help notify you of any transaction done on your account. Unfortunately,
the high rate of robbery and kidnapping has made a lot of Nigerians to
deactivate their mobile and email alerts. You can choose email alerts which you
can check via your computer instead of mobile devices.
Be very careful online: A lot of transactions
are done online for convenience…thanks to the World Wide Web but are the
easiest for fraud. Do not disclose your card details and personal information
on a site you aren’t sure of. From Online purchase, reservations and what have
you, please read carefully their instructions or Terms and Conditions before
proceeding especially with reservations as some are non-refundable. Cancel
reservations, if you won’t show up, on or before the due date to avoid no-show
charges. Log off from a site after you complete your purchase and if you can’t
log off; close your browser to protect your personal information.
Protect you card(s): You will feel for some
cards when you see them...On some people’s card, you can’t even see their
names. Keep your cards where they won’t break, get dirty or where the chip or
magnetic strip won’t be damaged or demagnetised.
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