Beware of The Chip Credit Card Scam Emails: They Can Steal Your Identity

Scammers are trying to take advantage on the transition  process of magnetic credit or debit cards to a new chip-embedded cards. The targets of these scammers are those who have not yet received their new chip-embedded cards.

The financial institutions are currently in the process of transitioning their cardholders to EMV chip-embedded credit and debit cards. This new card contains a dynamic security code that it will be less susceptible to skimming and counterfeiting than traditional magnetic stripe cards.

For the card's transitioning, the banks have been sending out new credit cards that have an embedded microchip before its liability change deadline on October 1.

According to CNN, not everyone has received the new credit card yet. The survey that was held last month showed that almost 60% of card users haven't received new cards.  And now the scammers are trying to capitalize by collecting personal information from these users.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a warning on its blog saying that the scammers are taking advantage by pretending to be a card issuer, impersonating banks and emailing people to tell them that in order to get a new chip card, they must update their account. The email asks people to confirm personal information or click on a link to initiate the process.

If you follow the instructions, the scammer can use your personal information to commit identity stealing. And if you click on the link given on email, you may be downloading malware that can harm your computer or monitor your online activity.

Card users should be aware that the bank or card issuer will never send an email or make a call to confirm about personal account information.

The new credit cards are sent automatically, means that the card holder need not to do anything to get a chip credit or debit cards.  The card holders must not respond to an email or phone call that asks to provide card number.

The FTC also noted on its blog for the credit or debit card users to not trust links in scam emails. The blog suggests to only provide personal information through a company's website. And if you're still not sure if the email is a scam, contact your card issuers at the phone numbers.

If you have received such scam email and you think you may have fallen victim to the scam, Yahoo Finance recommends to monitor financial statements in case of fraud charges and to pull your credit report regularly so you can be noticed if there is something wrong on your account.