Fraud protection - Staying safe online:

With a large proportion of students looking online to pay their bills, check their balance or extend their overdrafts is the chance of fraud more prominent?
The ease of online banking enables users to access their personal accounts in Internet cafes, at University, at home or even at their friends houses, however sometimes the more freely you access your online accounts can make you more prone to online fraud.

We have noted some simple measures that we hope you find useful in preventing fraud and protect your money… albeit a mix of overdrafts and student loans, so its not really your money is it!

Fraud protection.

Preventing your card from being stolen or misused is clearly preferable to the hassle and upset involved in dealing with your card being stolen or misused so ensure you:

Keep an eye on your card when using it in a shop or restaurant, especially overseas. If an embossing machine has been used, ask for carbon copies and destroy them.

Never discard transaction slips which display the card number, instead shred them.

Check your transaction slips at the time of purchase, raising any discrepancies with the retailer. This is especially important at restaurants.

Never write your card PIN number down or disclose it to anyone.


Ask the retailer to confirm the amount being debited from your card, including any delivery and booking fees, when using your card to pay for an order as you will probably not be able to argue the toss afterwards.

Check your credit card statement against the transaction slips you have accumulated through the month. If the transaction was not electronic, it is possible for mistakes to be made when your card is debited, such as transposing two digits.

If you plan on using your card to buy products and service over the Internet, consider getting a credit card that guarantees to refund you for any fraudulent use of the card that results from using your card over the Internet.


Do not buy products and services from websites that do not use a secure server to process credit card payments. A secured server is indicated by a small icon of a closed padlock begin displayed at the bottom of your browser or by the address https:// in the browser bar (look for the S).


Never offer your card details to 'cold' telephone or door to door callers, i.e. anyone contacting you out of blue, even if they claim to be from a reputable company.

When accessing your online accounts ensure that you successful ‘log out' of any accounts and ensure that the computer has not ‘remembered your password' by clicking ‘always ask for my password and username'

If have any other stories of suggestions why not leave a message on our forum.

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