photo © 2008 rikkis_refuge | more info (via: Wylio)CreditCards.com published a piece recently that talks with a former credit card thief, Dan DeFelippi, and he revels how easy it is to get into the fake credit card business.

DeFelippi, 29, mostly made fake credit cards with real credit card information he bought online. “I would make fake IDs to go with them, and then I’d buy laptops or other expensive items in the store and sell them on eBay,” he says.

CreditCards.com: What’s your No. 1 tip on how consumers can protect themselves?

DeFilippi: You’ve probably heard this before, but the most important thing really is to watch your accounts. And I don’t mean just checking your statement once a month. If you’re only checking your statement once a month, someone can start using your card at the beginning of the billing cycle, and they can do a lot of damage before you catch it. You’re talking thousands of dollars, and it will be a lot harder to catch them and dispute it. I use Mint.com, which is a free aggregation service that allows you to put all your accounts on there and monitor everything at once. I check that every day. It’s also a good idea to check your credit report at least twice a year to make sure no one has stolen your identity.

And if you are going to check your credit report, make sure it is a consolidated credit report.

You can read the entire story online, here.

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