Internet Crime Complaint Center reports increased fraud

There has been a significant increase in credit card fraud and other related ID theft related crime. Research shows that it’s preventable. Card holders just need to be careful.

Over at Merchant911 we monitor credit card fraud trends pretty carefully. What we’ve seen in the last month or so is a serious increase in fraud attempts. Careful analysis by the FBI and other Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) related experts show that the timing of this fraud surge is similar to others that occur after a natural disaster such as the recent tsunami in Japan.

As we reported after the fake relieve sites pop up all over the Internet. They exist solely for the purpose of stealing your hard-earned money. Now we have correlating data for this.

Prevention is simple. Only donate to charitable groups who’s reputation you know. Don’t be fooled by emails sent out that appear to originate from ANY group. Many times, they will look authentic but they most likely are not. They were set up to get your credit card information.

Be careful. It can be an ugly world out there.