| | |
Businesses Can Enhance Your Security
|
The next time you use your credit card to make a purchase in a shop, watch what happens with
your card. They may add a few seconds to the length of your transaction, but a few simple
steps can help protect all consumers from the fraudulent use of their cards. In order to
prevent credit fraud, the cashier should:
- Check the embossed account number, comparing it to the printed number beneath it
(the first four numbers should match) and looking for signs of a re-embossed number (which
will likely be uneven and/or crooked).
- Glance at the sides of the card-legitimate cards are made of white plastic, so if the sides
of the card are any other color, the cashier can be sure it is a counterfeit.
- Look over the card for the correct logos, hologram, and signature panel-credit card issuers
carefully standardize all of these.
- Verify the signature on the sales draft against the signature on the card.
You
might also pay attention to, or even ask about, how the business handles credit-related
paperwork and information. Does it:
- Store all receipts and ledger tapes in a secure place?
- Destroy past receipts and ledger tapes when the data is no longer needed?
- Avoid retaining magnetic stripe data once a transaction has been authorized?
- Handle lost or left-behind cards promptly and carefully?
|