Do high-tech fraud alerts really help consumers?

Having your credit card number stolen is always a nerve-wracking experience, even if you're not saddled with a bill for, say, a shipment of computers to Albania after the issuer straightens everything out. Increasingly, banks that issue cards are looking for ways to keep you more in the loop about suspected fraudulent activity. While this might sound helpful, it's not universally a positive development and could leave you with more agita than before.

In theory, you want your bank to catch a fraudster before he or she successfully goes on a shopping spree with your number. But here's the rub: You probably don't want to be the one responsible for stopping them, and some of these new programs seem to do just that. According to this article, many of the nation's big banks now have programs for which customers can sign up to receive alerts via email, text message or some other method. What triggers these alerts is a "suspicious" transaction -- say, a purchase made without the card or one that's conducted overseas.

Unfortunately, if you don't happen to be checking your email or have your mobile phone with you when that message gets transmitted, the bank could freeze your account if you don't confirm that a suspicious-on-paper purchase is actually A-OK. Plus, if you're receiving these alerts via text message, you could burn through your monthly allotment of texts pretty quickly.