It seems no matter how “secured” credit cards can get these days, there will always be a chink in the armor that some ne’er-do-well will use to break through their defenses and take the card for a night out on the town.  Before you know it, your once pristine new Visa card is lying in a ditch, covered in garbage and its own filth; kinda like going from Lindsay Lohan circa 2004 to Lindsay Lohan circa now.

And consumers are more educated in the ways of identity theft protection than ever, a 2009 study by the FTC found that 26% of Americans still fall victim to credit card fraud, finding themselves in need of credit repair and debt relief services fast.  So, in the interest of cutting that statistic down a few notches, here are 4 major identity theft and credit card scams to watch out for.

• Beware the ATM.  Most people never think twice about going to the ATM, especially when it’s part of their bank’s preferred network, or even outside the bank itself.  So it comes as quite a shock when they open their monthly card bill to find someone charged a fortune in IKEA furniture to their account, despite them hardly using the card for transactions in the first place. 

So how did this happen?  What you may not notice about your friendly neighborhood ATM is an extra bit of plastic stuck over the card slot.  That extra coat of plastic may actually be a magstripe skimmer, which can be outfitted over the reader to swipe any card that passes over it.  Coupled with a pinhole camera placed above the keypad to capture your PIN number once you enter it, you now have the makings of card scam that you help orchestrate yourself.

• The Fraud Department of Frauds.  Here’s something everyone who’s had some experience in credit card or identity theft goes through – the phone call from your card’s fraud department, asking you to verify recent charges to your account.  They’ll run through a list of recent charges, you’ll tell them none of those are right, they’ll assure you they will take care of the issue and end the call.  A month later, you open your credit card bill to find a whole new list of charges that weren’t yours and weren’t mentioned during that call from your provider.

So how did this happen?  I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that that phone call wasn’t from your card company, but another credit card scam instead.  These types of calls are on the rise, and can be difficult to spot if you don’t know what to watch out for.  If you do receive a call like this one, be on guard if they ask you to verify all of your personal information; from your home and billing addresses to your card number and verification code (that 3 digit number on the back of your card).  Your credit card provider already knows this information, and shouldn’t need to verify it all with you again just to clear up some fraudulent charges.

• The “winning” bid.  Say you’ve finally found the perfect rims for your ride on eBay.  These are some of the sweetest rims you’ve ever seen; you’ll be the envy of everyone on the road with these, so of course you have to have them!  After a fierce bidding war, you emerge victorious, ready to claim your reward.  The seller then asks you if you wouldn’t mind doing them a solid and using a link of their own to pay for the rims, separate from eBay’s checkout system.  You oblige and weeks later, find yourself with a list of fraudulent credit card charges and no rims in sight.

So how did this happen?  That link the seller sent you for forwarding payment was instead used to capture your credit card information to buy something for the seller (probably not rims).  If anyone ever asks you to go around an online retailers payment options to “help them out,” consider it a major red flag.  You should always be cautious with your credit card information, especially when dealing with online merchants.  The best way to avoid a scam like this is to stick with major retail websites and, when dealing with other users directly, keeping payments to PayPal options only.

• “[Don’t] Click me!”  Finally, while we’re on the subject of the internet and the many ways it can screw your finances over without you ever knowing, be on the lookout for any type of malware your computer could contract.  While some viruses are content to simply crash your computer, others like to set their sights on your finances, leaving you with no money and no idea of where it went. 

So how did this happen?  While most people know to be on the lookout for any computer-crashing viruses, a truly insidious piece of malware will infect your computer by posing as something completely innocuous like a music, game, or screen saver file before installing a keystroke logger to your system.  These things track every character you type on your keyboard and sends them off to a remote location, where they can be used to uncover all sorts of personal information, from social security numbers to bank card passwords. 

Keep these tips in mind whenever you feel like swiping some plastic.  They could save your credit card from looking like just another washed-up piece of plastic.