Security: Remove Saved Credit Cards From Chrome

Saving your credit card info is one of the most convenient features that modern browsers offer. Although it’s effective and mostly safe to use, scammers are coming up with new methods to exploit the feature. 

In this article, we’ll discuss how frauds are executed and how you can be safe by removing your saved credit card info from Chrome or any browser.

What Is the Security Concern?

The verified Visa and Mastercard websites are effective in securing the card details and executing transactions. But, impersonation frauds are being carried out by cybercriminals by creating bogus pages that look and act the same. You, the user, are risking your financial security when stumbling upon these pages and making a purchase.

The saved card information in the browser, that the verified websites use to autofill the payment forms, can also be used by these fraudulent websites to make unauthorized transactions with your credit card. One might argue that the browsers don’t save our authentication codes or CVV. Then how do the frauds relate to this?

It’s true that the browsers don’t deliberately try to save the CVV numbers or PINs. But you must understand that we are talking about bogus sites here, who have all the interest of gaining access to your credentials. Most types of browser malware injection frauds consist of overlying a payment page with their fake one to get the CVV or the PIN. Then using that with saved details of the cards, they can execute transactions. 

How Credit Card Frauds are Executed

Credit card information mostly gets leaked through browsers and the saved credentials. There are generally four ways that a browser compromise can sabotage your information.

Phishing

Phishing is the act of manipulating a user to visit certain fraud websites that look and act similarly as a genuine popular platform. Most often e-commerce. Social engineering strategies are further employed to escalate information-seeking operations. If you see discrepancies in credit card bills, contact credit repair services and your banks right away. 

Contacting both as soon as possible is to ensure that your credit scores will not be compromised by subsequent fraudulent activity. Banks can freeze your accounts right away. On ther other hand, credit repair service agencies will look into your financial records to point out the records related to phishing and correct them right away. 

Keyloggers

Keyloggers are malware that can log your keystrokes and can be triggered by visiting certain banking websites. As keyloggers are generally meant to be installed on your system, staying away from shady websites and not installing random software from the internet are the most preventative measures.  

Browser Malware Injection

Browsers run javascript codes for the websites to function intendedly. When the user visits banking websites, the hackers overlay the payment forms with their own fake forms that look the same. 

After they enter the details, often an error page is shown and the user carries on with the payment through the original form and succeeds. Never doubting it. But the information that they put in the phony form ends up in the database of the hacker.  

Info Stealing

Malware installed reports sensitive data that’s already on the system to the cybercriminals, who might install a keylogger for long term use if the information is potent. 

Most of these frauds are either directly or partially related to saved credit card information. Even if you haven’t already been a victim, it’s better to delete saved credit card history from Chrome. 

How to Remove Your Card Info from Chrome

If you’re convinced that saved credentials aren’t very compelling. Let’s dive into how you can remove your card details from Chrome. 

1. On the right-hand side of the address bar, you’ll find three vertical dots. Upon clicking, which opens up a menu. 
2. Access the “Settings” from the list. 
3. On the left-hand side, you’ll find a bar that has a sub-menu called “Autofill”. Click on that.
4. Under “Autofill”, click on the “Payment methods” to access the settings for it. 
5. In the lower half, if you have any saved cards, the details of those will appear. 
6. Click the three-dot icon to the right of each saved credit card. And “Remove”. 
7. Repeat this method for each of the saved cards. 
8. Turn off “Save and fill payment methods” in the “Autofill” menu to avoid saving credit card details further.

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How to Stay Safe in Future

It’s important that you don’t fall prey to fraudsters and give away your credit card information to them. To ensure that, here are some instances where you need to be careful next time. 

Scam Calls

Once upon a time, someone arranged a lottery of $3M and , somehow, you won it with hundreds of others. They call you to let you know about it and ask for your credit card information for “proceedings of the payment”. As gullible and misinformed as some are, they fall prey to it and lose thousands of dollars. 

Don’t believe everything that’s related to your credit card information without verifying the source first. It’s also important to know that sometimes scammers also impersonate bank personnel to extract information. 

Using Credit Cards Safely Online

As online shopping grew, the number of online scammers grew with it. Although the browsers themselves help you stay away from suspicious websites, it’s often not enough. You need to be alert and if possible, stay away from clicking random links.

Always check for HTTPS certification when visiting a website where you are intending to use your card. If you can see a green lock sign beside the address bar, the website is safe to visit. If not, try not to use credit cards.

Keep Credit Cards in Safe Location

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips used in modern credit cards ease transactions but it also makes them vulnerable to remote access. If you use a wallet that doesn’t block the radio frequencies, someone with rouge intent can initiate payment just by standing in close proximity.

Be Alert

Check your credit card bills thoroughly. If any discrepancies are found, contact your bank immediately. Even if the amount is insignificant. 

further reading: how to clear cache for one site only

The Bottom Line

Despite being convenient, saving your credit card info in the browser is not the safest option. It’s almost always better to not use credit cards when a website is deemed suspicious by the browsers or Google. As financial fraudsters are always looking for new methods to extract your credit card information, being an alert customer is the best you can do. If you already have been a victim of credit card fraud, notify your bank about it and stay alert the next time.