This holiday season should be a joyous one — for criminals. Holiday spending always makes it easier for fraudsters to steal your money.  A Starling Mill Road, Lyerly man recently reported a case of debit card fraud to the sheriff’s office.

A responding deputy spoke with the complainant who told the deputy over $1,400 in fraudulent charges had been made to his Peach State Credit Union debit card over the past several days.  The complainant told the deputy he needed a police report to give to his credit union.

With the Holidays approaching, it is a good idea to be more vigilant in monitoring your accounts.  A couple of simple tips to help stop debit card fraud:

• Turn on alerts, if available, from your bank or card issuer. This can inform you when spending is taking place on your card or account.
• Check your accounts more regularly to make sure all the purchases are genuine. It’s easy to forget what you bought a few weeks later.