When I travel abroad, I am sometimes hesitant about handing my card to servers in local restaurants and bars. Bank machines can be even more dangerous. I had my card skimmed last year. I started noticing mini transactions on my card. Chewing gum and small amounts of petrol purchased at American gas stations… Since I had not been to the US for a couple of years, these were clearly not my transactions. I contacted my bank and they kindly refunded these transactions and stopped my card. But it reminded me that the world is not a safe place when it comes to sharing your credit card details.
Although many people like me, believe that their card has been skimmed at an unfamiliar ATM, data shows that my card was far more likely to have been cloned from an online transaction that I had made. Online card fraud is rampant across Europe, with France and the UK at the top of the list.
How Does Online Card Fraud Work?
Online Fraud generally happens in “Card Not Present” transactions which occur when the buyer and seller are not in the same location and the case in the majority of online payments.
Fraudsters can take advantage of this type of transaction by positioning themselves between you and the merchant while you’re using your card online, in order to ‘phish’ (to copy) your card details.
Once your details have been collected, the hacker can then ‘clone’ them onto a physical card or simply use them to pay for purchases without you even realizing it.
A Great Solution Is A Virtual Card
I have a premium account with Revolut which enables me to make an online payment with a Disposable Virtual Card. Their systems will instantly detect the transaction and then automatically destroy the card details, generating new ones that appear directly in my Revolut app.
Other Highlights Of The Revolut Premium Card
There is a free Revolut card and a £6.99 GBP a month Premium Card which offers more:
- £400 GBP/€400 EUR Free ATM withdrawals per month (instead of £200 GBP/€200 EUR)
- Free unlimited FX volumes
- Free exclusive Premium cards (they look snazzier)
- Free overseas medical insurance
- Free global express delivery
- Exclusive priority 24/7 customer support
- Exclusive Premium promotions
How do I Get Hold Of A Virtual Card?
Right now the Revolut card is only available to my UK and EU readers, but there are imminent plans to expand the card to North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australasia, so please feel free to register your interest for the card on our Luxury Travel Concierge page. Submit your name and email to get yourself at the front of the queue. We will personally email you when the card becomes available beyond the EU.
If you are UK or EU based, enter your mobile number here to get your free Revolut card, and then upgrade to Premium, as Disposable Virtual Cards are only available to Premium customers.
Are there limits with disposable cards?
Disposable Virtual Cards are currently offered as part of the Revolut Premium account. Each Premium user is allowed to create 1 Disposable Card per account. For fraud prevention purposes, a Disposable Virtual Card will work for up to five payments per day.
Disposable Virtual Cards will not work with subscription services or any other type of recurring payment since the card details will renew after every payment.
COPYRIGHT 2014 - 2023 LUXURY TRAVEL DIARY. DUPLICATION OUTSIDE OF LUXURYTRAVELDIARY.COM IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN.
Note: Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.