OK, you have all got those email chains, and you have passed some of them on... this is my chance at creating a chain myself, and you better help me in this :P)
More seriously, I wanted to share a real experience with you, and hope that this might save you from a lot of trouble later on - with your credit card.
A few days back, my card was illegally used to purchase airline tickets worth Rs 53000 on an Internet travel site. Thankfully, I got one of those confirmation SMSes, and immediately called the bank to cancel the transaction. Later it came to light that this was an organised gang, purchasing tickets online using other people's credit cards and then selling them at a huge discount - the gang has now been busted and the perpetrators caught after a raid in a cybercafe in Mumbai.
Whenever you swipe a card, your card number and other details are available on the charge slip. All that is needed to use this information on an Internet site is the authorization code - this is a 3 digit number found on the back of your card, usually on the signature strip (after your card number).
Hence, please take the following additional precautions when using your credit cards:
1) Do not give your card away as far as possible. Get it swiped in your presence.
2) Even if you do the above, it is very easy to glance and memorize the 3 digit number - hence scratch out the number from the back of the card. If you want to use the card for Internet transactions, keep the auth code in a separate secure place.
3) Use credit cards sparingly on the Internet - if you have to use it, try using one of the one-time-use-only Netsafe cards that are available online from banks like HDFC.
And yes, please share this information with as many people as you can! Contribute towards making the Internet a safer place :)
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