MA Urged to Stop Using Debit Cards for Online Purchases

Massachusetts residents are well aware of scams and potential threats. It seems like every day, people are trying to steal our identity, drain our bank accounts, and make life miserable for many of us. Whether by email, text messages, phone calls, or social media, another scam is looming, waiting to hit us.

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AARP released a list of the five biggest scams to watch for this year, and while they are all very important, there's one in particular I would like to focus on today. I never realized how easy it is to be scammed using a debit card, and that if you have a credit card, it's encouraged to use the latter instead of the former particularly when making online purchases.

According to AARP, in this scam, an innocent person attempts to make an online purchase, but their card gets declined. Then, they try another card, and that one also gets declined. Here's the rub: even though the cards get declined, the victim is still being charged for the online purchases. In some cases, the credit card company will contact the person, telling them that the charge or charges have been declined. The thing is, there shouldn't have been charges to begin with if the card was declined.

The AARP article reports that if you can, you should use credit cards instead of debit cards for online purchases because credit cards offer stronger fraud protections. Another tip is to make sure you ignore unsolicited offers. It's always important to do a gut check in these cases. If something seems off, it probably is.

According to the AARP article, the scam has been happening regularly. No matter where you live in Massachusetts whether it's Boston, Worcester, Springfield or anywhere in the Bay State, we are all equally vulnerable to this scam. Make sure you stay educated and ask questions. You can start by reading more about this scam and a few other common ones courtesy of AARP.