Never, ever use a debit card,' warns fraud expert and ex-con artist -- here's what to do instead

[mfcorey1]

Every year, millions of American consumers — nearly 7% of the population — are victims of scams and fraud. In 2017, the number of fraud victims in the US reached 16.7 million, with $16.8 billion lost.

For more than 45 years, I've worked with, advised and consulted with the FBI and hundreds of financial institutions, corporations and government agencies around the world to help them in their fight against fraud.


But my expertise began more than 50 years ago, in an unusual way: I was one of the world's most famous con artists. While I'm ashamed of what I did as a young man — cheating, stealing and, along the way, deceiving and hurting people — I was grateful for the opportunity to turn myself around.

My story, which is depicted in my 1980 memoir, "Catch Me If You Can," gave me a wider audience to talk about fraud prevention.

Protect your identity
Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else's identity (e.g., name, address, Social Security number, bank accounts) to get money and credit, obtain employment, steal property, falsify educational and other credentials, access healthcare and more.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/never-ever-use-a-debit-card-warns-fraud-expert-and-ex-con-artist-%e2%80%94-heres-what-to-do-instead/ar-AAGoUZc?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

[uppityperson]

1. Frank Abagnale! Great movie, off to read your article

[Boxerfan]

2. Not sure how useful the advice is

It boiled down to "Use a credit card instead".

Not everyone has or wants one of those financial "tools". You are the tool in that scenario with the interest rates.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Not if you pay the balance every single month.

Another big problem with debit cards is that it's far too easy to use it when you don't have the money in the account, and the bank is very happy to slap you with humongous fees.

People should pay cash a lot more often than they do, rather than just always using either a credit or a debit card. If you allot yourself a set amount each week or each month for specific kinds of purchases (say coffee at Starbucks) when that cash is gone, you just don't buy any more coffee at Starbucks.