Just having received the bill for a credit card I haven’t used since receiving it several months ago, imagine my surprise to see that I had made some purchases. Now, bear in mind that this card has been in my wallet since I received it seven months ago and still has the activation sticker on it. Yet, I managed to make online purchases of a train ticket in Washington DC, sign up for a monthly MLM program and purchase another travel ticket on hotwire. The card was received seven months ago and the charges only started in November. Is there any way this could have been prevented?
Throw away credit card numbers can be of some use here but probably wouldn’t have prevented the above from happening as somehow someone got my name and actual credit card number. But for online shopping protection using virtual credit cards may be helpful - or they may lead us to a false sense of security. Just because I use a virtual card only once doesn’t mean someone can’t get the real information to use for their benefit.
This can be compared to the use of a disposable camera to prevent loss or damage to your expensive camera while you are traveling. A virtual credit card number can be used to prevent loss when making online purchases. In this case, the virtual credit card number is invalid after one use.
With widespread credit card fraud nobody is surprised when it happens and the credit card companies are constantly looking for a way to prevent losses due to fraud. The method must not inconvenience their customer when it comes to using the account for purchases either online or on person yet it must also protect consumer information. Their hope is that virtual card numbers can solve this problem for them and their customers.
While virtual cards are used to purchase online in the same manner regular cards are, they are temporary numbers. These numbers are issued as a short term replacement of you true card number for purchases. Your personal information is not transmitted to the vendor and often they are single use numbers and a new number must be generated for subsequent transactions. There are other cases where a virtual number can be used for multiple purchases over a limited time period before it cancels.
Virtual card numbers are intended to hide the real number from those who wish to use your information for their purposes and possibly damaging your credit. Should a secure processing center be hacked by someone wanting credit card information, your use of a virtual number would render your account safe. If they used your virtual number the result would be a denial of credit.
You expect that your card information is safe and secure at secure sites during your purchase. There is however the possibility that an employee of an online merchant could sell credit card information to criminals. While this in itself is a criminal act some people are willing to do anything if the payoff is high enough and there is little chance of them being caught.
The biggest benefit of virtual card numbers is protecting your private information online. The subsequent use of such a number results in denial of credit. If you are used to making several purchases online with your credit card per month then you may see a real benefit from the use of a virtual credit card. This will assure all your transactions are secure and your information is protected.
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