Consumers prefer cell phone call in the event of fraud

In the event of a potentially fraudulent purchase, consumers prefer to be notified directly via a call to their cell phones, according to a new survey released by fraud prevention agency Adeptra.

The extra mode of notification in the event of any type of account breach may be useful to consumers who are dealing with debt counseling and looking to keep a close eye on their finances.

According to the survey, which was conducted in September by polling 200 consumers on how they would like potentially fraudulent transactions to be dealt with, found 54 percent of respondents said that being contacted by a cell phone call was their top choice.

A notably fewer number of respondents, 20 percent, said that they would like to be contacted on their land line telephone. The same percentage of respondents said that they preferred to be notified by email.

Only 6 percent or respondents said that they preferred to be notified by SMS/text message.

"Today’s credit card fraudsters are armed with the combination of no scruples, an eye for opportunity, and cutting edge technologies," said Lou Venezia, the CEO of Adeptra. "It’s a never-ending race but issuers are embracing technologies and services which help them stay one step ahead to protect their brand reputation and, most importantly, let consumers know when there might be fraud so they can stop a small problem from turning into a larger one."

The desire to be contacted directly on a cell phone did not necessarily mean that consumers were overly interested in checking up on their accounts, as only 11 percent said they checked their account balances daily.