Have you committed accidental credit card fraud?

You do everything you can to keep from becoming a victim of credit card fraud in Maryland. Such efforts are necessary and admirable, but you could inadvertently commit the very fraud you seek to protect yourself against.

With a bit of insight from GOBankingRates, you can better understand how accidental fraud works. Use your newly gained knowledge to stay on the right side of the law.

Rethink Disputing That Credit Card Charge

Perhaps you use your credit card for everyday purchases to take advantage of rewards. You pay off the card every month to avoid interest fees, but you could make so many charges that you forget about some. There could be a time when you dispute a charge you neither recognize nor remember and request a refund. While an understandable mistake, it could also end in you committing credit card fraud without meaning to.

Fudging the details on a credit card application

While filling out a credit card application, you get to the section regarding your annual income. Rather than doing the math, you make a guess…an inaccurate guess. If caught for your accidental misdeed, the credit card company could accuse you of fraud. Depending on how far the situation progresses, you may see yourself hit with probation, fines or even time behind bars.

Signing a credit card receipt for someone else

Surely there is no harm in signing your friend’s credit card receipt when you have her or his permission. Say that for whatever reason, your friend later disputes the charge on the receipt you signed. Because the signature is actually yours rather than your friend’s, it is you who shoulders full responsibility for the blunder. Do yourself and your friend a favor and let her or him sign the receipt.

This information is only intended to educate and should not be interpreted as legal advice.