If it’s your first time to apply for a credit card, be careful with accepting any unsolicited offer that comes your way. If you don’t take care, you just might find yourself a victim of credit card fraud.
5 Tips on Wising Up to Fraudulent Credit Card Offers
Tip #1 Apply Directly to the Credit Card Issuer.
You might find yourself encountering an offer that says you’ll have an easier time applying and getting approved for a credit card through their help. Unless they work directly for the credit card issuer, no middleman representative or company can change your credit card application’s fate if it’s truly not meant to pass. The only thing that can improve your chances of getting approved is by improving your credit score and nothing else!
Tip #2 Bad Credit Matters…Negatively.
If someone tells you that he can get you a credit card that’s not only unsecured but with low interest rates as well, you’re getting your leg pulled by a con artist. Bad credit always matters, and they matter negatively. Credit card issuers never ignore the fact that you have bad credit no matter who you are. If you have bad credit but you want to have a credit card, your best bet is getting a secured one or one that’s specifically designed for people with bad credit.
Tip #3 There is No Up Front Fee to Pay.
And if there is, it should be minimal because there’s really nothing you should pay for. Up front fees are rarely required by any major credit card issuer so being asked to do so in the first place should make warning bells ring in your head. Secondly, if they refer to the up front fee as your “annual fee”, it should appear on your first credit card statement and paid together with your initial credit card charge.
Tip #4 Know What their Gold, Platinum, and Silver Status Really Means.
Other people will try to deceive you with tempting gold, platinum, and silver credit card offers. But before you take the bait – take the time to ask what exactly those offers entail. In most cases, a gold credit card means having an elite status because you’ve got an incredible credit card limit, competitive interest rates, and amazing rewards to look forward to. Is that the kind of gold credit card they’re talking about? Or could it be just a gold colored card with the usual privileges? Or worse, could it only be used to purchase items from their very own product catalogue?
If you really want a gold, platinum, or silver credit card – ask yourself if you can truly afford it first.
Tip #5 If You Want to Have Credit Card Protection You Can Do the Protecting Yourself.
A different but related credit card offer that you could also encounter is one providing you with credit card protection and insurance. The person making the offer might also weave terrifying tales of what could happen to you if you don’t get your credit card insured. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cautions consumers from availing of this offer because it usually proves useless in the end. If you want to protect yourself from credit card troubles, you can do so by using your card responsibly and wisely.
There are sure to be other types of fraudulent credit card offers you could encounter, but just remember the golden rule for credit cards: if an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is!