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| Businesses Can Add to Your Security |
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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?
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