Credit Card Fraud Question

[Brian Elfert]

Reall? Because even a lot of big stores like Lowes and Target ask.

I've never been asked at Target for ID. I can't recall with Lowes.

See http://usa.visa.com/download/merchan...-merchants.pdf for the rules on accepting credit cards. The rules have apparently changed a little bit. Visa now says a merchant may ask for ID, but the merchant cannot refuse a sale for failure to provide an ID. Visa does state that asking for ID will slow down sales and could deter sales.

It doesn't matter though as a lot of times they steal the data off the magnetic strip on one card and encode it on another according to my credit union. It's really easy to obtain a generic gift card with a cc company logo.

When I worked at CompUSA in the mid 90s someone tried to make a large purchase with a bad credit card. I could tell the card had been run through a roller and new numbers embossed. I think the magnetic strip didn't work. I told the buyer I had to call for approval since the stripe was bad. We had a back room behind the register so I called from there. The thief got spooked and left while I was calling the head cashier. There was no such policy to need approval for bad magnetic stripes. I just needed an excuse to step away to call the head cashier about the bad credit card.

The credit card terminals at the time required the last 4 digits of the card number be keyed in to make sure the numbers on the stripe matched the numbers embossed on the card. Some stores still do this, but it is pretty rare these days.

[Justin Green]

I just had my account hacked as well. $100 in iTune purchases and some online dating site for another $30. It happened the day after Zappos (online retailer) was hacked. I don't really believe in coincidences, so even though Zappos said that the credit card information in their database was not compromised, I'm really doubting their honesty. The dating web site said that someone had physically called in with my debit card information to register.

[Charles Wiggins]

Kevin,

You're forgetting about circumstances where one might want to have something shipped to a different address than the billing address.

1) Gift-giving. This past Christmas my sister and I bought my parents a 46" TV and had it shipped to THEIR house.
2) PO box. All our bills used to go to a PO box. UPS will not ship to a PO box.
3) Security. I have had sensitive packages shipped to my work address because I did not want the package sitting at the house all day in the weather and unattended.

[Jeff Nicol]

I have had only one attempt on a card and that was about 5 years ago. I use my debit as a credit card and never use it at an ATM or at gas stations that won't let you use them as CC. The skimmers are all self contained and are most always put on the machines during peak hours for ATM usage, usually from the thief watching the ATM for a few days to find out the best time to do the skim. The thief only leaves it on the machine for a short time and is removed when they have all the info, soif they have your PIN it either was skimmed or someone at the bank did it, because as a CC no pin is entered.

I use a Credit union and they are very good at the transactions, the only time someone tried to do something it was flagged right away as the transactions were out of the normal area I use the card and the amounts were over $500. The credit union called and asked and took care of it at no cost to us and we got new cards. The reason I use the debit as a CC is because each time it was used as a debit we were charged .50 to $1.50 each time. We called the Credit union and said that we did not agree to that and they told us what to do and credited us the fees.

So I have been very lucky, or just due to good clean living!

Jeff

[Curt Harms]

It is against Visa and Mastercard rules to require an ID to use a credit card. Visa and Mastercard feel that customers will be less likely to use a credit card if an ID is required. They make money on every transaction so they want credit cards used as often as possible. Merchants are also not supposed to take any cards that say "See ID" or similiar. All cards are supposed to have an actual signature.

There are customers who get completely bent out of shape if a merchant asks for an ID to complete a credit card sale. Some of them go so far as to write letters to corporate offices and to Visa/Mastercard complaining they had to show an ID to use a credit card. I have no idea why these people have an issue showing an ID. It protects them and the merchant to have an ID.

It is perfectly understandable that merchants would want to have an ID. The merchant loses money if a bad credit card is used. Visa/Mastercard aren't out the money if there is a bad transaction. Some credit card companies had programs where they were putting photos on credit cards. I have no idea why that never took off.

I have written on the signature panel of my most used card "ask for I.D.". Over several years the only time I had a problem was at a post office in Florida. Sometimes I'm asked for I.D., some times not but was only declined one time. Of course I haven't used that card for a major purchase - over $100 - at a store since I don't know when.