With hacks at credit reporting agencies, corporate data breach scandals and a constant influx of new phishing scams, banks and other scams, credit card issuers are becoming increasingly vigilant about fraud — for good reason. Fraud is on the rise, and your first defense against victimization is a fraud alert, which your bank issues when it detects a suspicious transaction or worse. Although many alerts are false alarms, they can result in a frozen bank account or an embarrassing decline at the register. Find out when you might accidentally trigger your own fraud alert and how to protect you against credit card fraud.
