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bearlyart Jul 1, 2008

Hello everyone,

We felt that this was an excellent time to discuss credit card safety!  Here is some information that you may find helpful to keep your credit or debit card safe, whether you are shopping in person or online.  For those of us who have our own credit card processors, we've included some tips to keep your own customer's information safe as well.  I realize that some of this data is centered around laws and regulations within the US, however most of the information here is suitable for anyone, anywhere.  Let's all do everything we can to fight fraud!

1.  Using your credit card in person.

We have all heard the advice to never let your card out of your sight when making a purchase in a store or restaurant.  This still holds true!   Advances in technology have added even more challenges though.

Are you aware of skimming?  Your card information can be stolen in a fraction of a second, right in front of your eyes.  A cashier may take your card, swipe it normally to pay for your purchase, and then slide your card through a "skimmer" to steal your information.  A skimmer is a small electronic device that records a card's information for later use, these devices are so small now that a cashier could conceal it in the palm of his hand.

We all know that cell phones can take photos now as well.  When you have your credit card out to pay for your purchase, keep the card turned over or covered with your hand.  Anyone near you with a cell phone could take a very clear picture of your credit card otherwise, which would provide them with your name, card number and expiration date.

Never throw away any paperwork with your card information on it.  If you ever get a receipt from a store that has your entire credit card number on it, make sure it goes through a shredder!

2.  Using your credit card online.

First and foremost, please reconsider using a debit card online.  Fraud will happen to most of us at some point in our lives, and credit cards give you far greater protection than debit cards!  Fraud on your debit card means that you've already lost money out of your bank account and will have to fight to get it back.  Fraud on a credit card is often caught before it goes through.  Even if fraudulent charges do go through on a credit card, they may affect your overall balance or put you over your limit, but you still haven't actually paid anything out at that point!

I found such good information in a couple of links about safe shopping online, that instead of summarizing them, it's probably best just to give you the links.  Here are two sites with online shopping advice from the government:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume … lt082.shtm
http://onguardonline.gov/shopping.html

Here is an article explaining the difference between using credit & debit cards (including when they are used fraudulently):
http://www.aarp.org/money/credit_debt/a … Cards.html

Several people have mentioned the possibility of using reloadable prepaid credit cards for online ordering.  This seems like a great alternative!  Here are examples of two such cards from MasterCard and Visa.
http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/e … t_prepaid/
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prep … aid%20Card

3.  Accepting credit cards for your own customers.

Many of us have card processor ourselves to take our own customer's payments.  Here is some advice to help keep your customer's card information safe.

Never send or request credit card information over email.  Email is NOT secure!  If you do not have a secure checkout system on your web site and are not using PayPal, get your customer's credit card information over the phone or even by mail.  Whenever you tell an online customer that you accept credit cards, make sure you follow that up right away with a warning that they should not send their information in an email, and then tell them how they can get you that information safely.

When you have someone's credit card information on paper, don't just throw it away!  Use a shredder on the paper when you are done processing the transaction, then it can be disposed of.  If your customer requests that you keep their information for future purchases, and you are comfortable doing so, make sure it's in a very secure place like a locked box.

There are a growing number of laws and regulations regarding truncation of credit card numbers.  The most cautious approach is to cross out all but the last four or five numbers of a credit card AND remove the expiration date on any copy you provide back to the customer (only YOU should have the full credit card number so that you can process the charge).  This is currently a federal law for credit card machines that print a receipt electronically.  The federal law does not apply to handwritten or imprinted (knucklebuster) receipts, however state laws vary and the credit card companies themselves have their own regulations.  To be as safe as possible, get in the habit of taking a pen and truncating card information on your customer's receipt. 

Does anyone have additional tips or advice to add?  If so, please share them!

Stay safe!
Kelly

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner SponsorJul 1, 2008

Kelly, you, Karen, Chrissi, Aleta, and Cindy all deserve huge thank yous, standing ovations, rounds of applause, and our undying gratitude for your hard work, diligence, and time in researching this problem.  I wasn't a victim of this scam, but certainly am not immune from future happenings of this sort.  I appreciate so much how each of you unselfishly gave up your lives for several days to help us all understand what was going on.  Thank you for the above information . . . now we can be better prepared to avoid such awful situations.   :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  Bravo and kudos to these very conscientious
and dedicated ladies who have done us all a tremendous favor.

Dilu Jul 1, 2008

You ladies are to be applauded, :clap:

for your hard and dilligent work, for your sensitivity in keeping the rumors under control, (no easy thing, this!) and for your concern in the damage that could be caused innocent business and people.

You are truly remarkable ladies, and we are so proud you are here, active members of TeddyTalk and so happy to know you!

You are fantabulous beary ladies!

gollyslobberkisses, messy  ones all around, and tissues for cleaning up!  These aren't passed out lightly, aren't  you glad?!

hugs
dilu

bearlyart Jul 1, 2008

Some excellent points have been made in response both here and emailed to me.  The experiences we have with our debit and credit cards when it comes to fraud will be highly dependent upon the policies of our own financial institutions.  Some banks are exceptionally good about debit cards, and others are horrible about credit cards.  Your mileage may vary!

Additionally, if you have your own credit card processor, the final say about what you can and cannot do with customer information needs to come from the contract that you have with your processing company.  There's not always common ground between those companies either!

Wouldn't this all be a lot easier if policies were totally uniform???  And that's not even getting into variations internationally!

Best wishes,
Kelly