While most credit card companies and merchants are using the chip (versus the magnetic swipe) most of our credit cards still have the mag stripe. The mag stripe is still vulnerable to anyone you allow to handle your card who can capture the mag strip information, duplicate your card and then make charges against your account. You can't prevent someone from duplicating the information but you can be alert to new charges on your card.
Credit card companies offer a feature that provides you notification when a charge transaction is processed. Once you set up this notification system you will receive notification via text message or email once a transaction meeting your criteria occurs. If an unauthorized transaction occurs you have the ability to contact the credit card company to alert them and prevent additional charges.
Credit card companies may differ in how to set it up but generally you will need to log into your credit card account online then set up the "Account Alert" or "Manage Alerts" option. I found the option under Settings and Preferences. You may want to use your favorite search engine to search for instructions, for example "Set up an account alert for Discover card". Call the phone number listed on the back of your credit card to ask if you can't find any information.
Some credit card companies may require that a specific amount is charged before notification occurs, for example the company will notify you via text or email only when a transaction exceeds a specific amount such as $5.00 while some allow you to set your threshold as low as .01. Your credit card company may also provide you the ability to request notification prior to your bill date to help ensure your payment is on time.
The credit card alerts are a great way to catch fraud.
