One easy way to protect yourself while shopping online

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - We're all doing a bit more online shopping these days during the pandemic.

And there’s one key thing you should be doing when you shop. If you want to avoid online fraud, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to use a credit card for those purchases. Not a debit card - a credit card.

Cherry Dale is a financial coach with the Virginia Credit Union. She says you have certain protections if you use a credit card under the fair credit billing act. You’re only liable up to $50 of that charge, and she says it’s easier to dispute fraud as well.

“It’s just safe to use a credit card, versus, if you have a debit card and that cash, is taken out of your checking account. You would have to wait, who knows, a week. Two weeks. Even up to 10 days in order to get refunded that money by your financial institution,” says Dale.

And each bank or credit union has its own rules and regulations with fraud.

So, a credit card just adds that extra layer of protection for you.

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