It’s the day after Christmas. You bought presents for the entire family. You feel good and at peace because gifting is better than receiving. But, you decide to check your credit/debit card transactions… just in case. Although you remember spending within your budget this holiday season, your transaction history states that you spent much more than expected. You think to yourself: I know I was generous with gifts this year, but I know I didn’t spend this much in this store on the other side of the country. What now?

There’s three things you did right here:

1. You monitor your accounts. Although debit/credit card fraud can happen at any time during the year, it is more likely to happen during the holiday season since more people are swiping their credit and/or debit cards and shopping online more often.
2. You stayed within your holiday budget. It is good practice to set a holiday budget to less the stress and keep you from overspending and adding debt.
3. You bought presents. Holidays are about giving.

We recommend doing the following after Christmas:

1. Keep a close eye on your debit/credit card statements to track how much you’re spending and to watch for unauthorized charges.
2. Check your receipts to confirm that you made the purchase. If you don’t have a physical receipt, check your email for an order confirmation.
3. Link your debit/credit cards to your Digital Wallet for a secure mobile payment app.
4. Set up email and text alerts to notify you of new purchases, large withdrawals, or if your account balance falls under a certain amount.
5. Be vigilant not only during the holiday season, but always. Check out our Cyber Security blog for more useful tips and information.