Watching Your Wallet: Protecting yourself while online shopping

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Online shopping skyrocketed during the pandemic and internet fraud saw the same gains.

There’s one key thing you should be doing when you shop. If you want to avoid online fraud, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to use a credit card for those purchases. Not a debit card -- a credit card.

Cherry Dale, a financial coach with the Virginia Credit Union, said there are certain protections if you use a credit card under the Fair Credit Billing Act. You’re only liable up to $50 of that charge and it’s easier to dispute fraud as well.

“It’s just safe to use a credit card,” Dale said. “If you have a debit card and that cash is taken out of your checking account, you would have to wait -- who knows -- a week, two weeks, even up to 10 days in order to get refunded that money by your financial institution.”

Each bank and credit union has its own rules and regulations regarding fraud, so a credit card adds another layer of protection.

More: Watching Your Wallet

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