Tip of the Week: Google Wallet Users Need to Make Sure They Lock Their Card

Google is much more than just a collection of desktop apps, a search engine, and a web browser. Google is a large company that’s continuously innovating with new and exciting technologies. One of these is Google Wallet, which allows for sharing cash and making money transfers online. What many users of Google Wallet forget is that, just like a debit or credit card, your Google Wallet card number can be stolen and used for fraudulent activity.

Google wallet allows the transfer of money directly between Google Wallet accounts and can send money directly to bank accounts. Of course, the easiest way to use your Google Wallet account is with the provided Google Wallet debit card. It works in the same way as any other debit or credit card, and can be used anyplace MasterCard is accepted. Of course, this makes it susceptible to the same scams that target other types of cards.

Banks are capable of resolving unauthorized and fraudulent transactions, and Google is no different. However, Google vows that they will reimburse 100 percent of unauthorized transactions. This helps you in the event that your card’s information has been stolen by fraudsters, but how can you prevent this from happening in the first place? By taking full advantage of the Google Wallet smartphone app (you can find it here for the iPhone), you can effectively limit how much damage is done to your account from card lifters.

The Google Wallet app is a great way to monitor your money transfers and protect your account from fraud. The smartphone app can send money on your Wallet card to a linked bank account, and you can view transactions and recurring transfers to your bank account right through the app, or on Wallet’s official website.

The best part of the Google Wallet app is its ability to completely shut down your card within a moment’s notice. If you think that your card has been targeted by fraudsters, you can easily lock or unlock your Google Wallet card by using the slider on the app’s balance screen. Doing so will also place a lock on your online Google Wallet account, which might be an issue if you have subscriptions regularly hitting it. Just make sure that you turn it on for these scheduled payments.

Another important part of using Google Wallet is understanding that hackers who have lifted your card numbers aren’t actually able to access your Wallet account. They only have access to the money that’s currently in your account. The reasoning for this is that they only have your card number, which has no bearing on how you access Google Wallet. This means that hackers don’t have access to your bank account numbers, and they can’t overdraw your debit card; meaning that they aren’t going to hit you with any overdraft fees. Basically, the only problem that you need to be aware of is the money within your account, and not to add money into it if you think it’s been compromised.

It’s a best practice to keep your Google Wallet card locked at all times when you don’t need to use it. Doing so keeps hackers from using it to their benefit. Monitoring the card’s activity is another great way to mitigate the damage done by fraudulent activity. As always, contacting Google about any fraudulent activity can lead to reimbursement, but it’s still your responsibility to keep tabs on your account and identify suspicious activity.

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