BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Our spending habits have shifted to more online and it's important to think about fraud.
Nathan Grant, a Senior Credit Card Industry Analyst for Creditcardinsider.com has three things to keep in mind when buying things online.
- Make sure you are using a safe and secure browser. “Every browser whether it is on your phone or your laptop should have a secure lock symbol and then in the address instead of having http if it has https then you know it is secure," Grant said.
2. Do not buy items when you are using public wifi. “Stay within your personal network or from home,” Grant added.
3. Use credit cards over debit cards when shopping online. “Credit cards have so many more protections when you become a victim of fraud using a debit card, that’s your own money on the line, not the lender," Grant said.
Fraud is up but household debt is down. According to Reuters-- US households cut their debt for the first time in six years, with a record drop in credit card balances. Grant says to pay off credit card debt you can take an approach of paying off high-interest rates first and then move towards low-interest.
“The avalanche approach where you focus on the high-interest debts, pay that in full and then move on to the next one," Grant said. "It takes longer but you are saving more time in the long run.”
