Residents around the Morongo Basin are being reminded on a daily basis about the credit card breaches at Home Depot and Target. This past week, the Sheriff’s Department received at least six complaints of fraudulent use of credit cards, from Morongo Valley, to Landers, to Twentynine Palms. Several accounts had purchases of $483 charged to their accounts; the total loss of the five complaints reported Tuesday was more than $14,300. With tips on how to protect yourself against credit card fraud, here’s Managing Editor Tami Roleff…
To protect yourself against having your credit card information stolen or used, don’t use your PIN for your debit card, but sign for it instead by selecting the credit card option. Use other ways to pay, such as PayPal, or even better, cash. Check your credit card statements carefully. Crooks often will charge a small payment to see if you notice, and then charge larger amounts. Check your credit reports for accounts that crooks may have opened in your name. You get a free credit report every year from each of the credit reporting agencies. Home Depot is also offering free credit monitoring to its customers. Call 800-466-3337 for more information.
