Posts Tagged ‘scam’
There’s a New Credit Card Scam in Town
Friday, April 18th, 2008
It’s almost like that gopher pounding game at the carnival. As soon as you bop one on the head another pops it’s mocking little head out of the hole which you must smash into oblivion…and so on and so forth for what seems like forever. Just as law enforcers find a way to prevent a crime, criminals find another way to commit it. We often stereotype criminals as dumb but in reality, in order to be a successful criminal you have to be smarter than the system that’s designed to keep you from violating it. It’s the nature of the beast I suppose and they’re back at it again.
In what is termed "credit card shaving" people buy gift cards or take stolen credit cards and test a 16-number sequence either by trying to make a purchase online or by calling a verification number the way merchants do. The scammers then scratch up the new card’s magnetic strip so a store clerk has to enter the numbers manually, what’s called "forcing a transaction."
The result is a card that ends up looking like it went through the ringer a few times but apparently merchants are accepting these cards. The people who’s accounts the numbers match up to are left dumbfounded as to how their card information has been stolen because they still have their cards and no mail has been stolen from them…it’s a sheer case of dumb luck. And its taking off.
As a merchant, you can help customers by not accepting suspicious looking cards as well as cards with inoperable magnetic strips. This seems like common sense but the scammers tend to target low end small businesses where customer traffic is heavy. Just be sure you remain diligent and educate your employees to do the same.
Tags: credit card, news, Rebecca Button, retail, scam, tips
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