Consumers told to be alert for credit card fraud

CONSUMERS and businesses should learn to protect their credit cards, ATM cards and other access devices to avoid being victimized by fraud, U.S. Secret Service special agent Glen T. Peterson said.

U.S. Secret Service special agent Glen T. Peterson shows a counterfeit credit card to participants of the credit card and currency training session. Photo by Raquel C. Bagnol

In the credit card and currency training session he conducted in the Saipan Chamber of Commerce conference room last week, Peterson said more than 10,000 credit card transactions are made every second around the world and that credit card fraud cost banks about $1 billion each year.

E-merchants are also victims of credit card fraud, he added.

He said fraud rates outside the U.S. are higher and credit card fraud is usually done through skimming, hacking, phishing or scams as well as through lost, stolen or counterfeit credit cards.

Safety tips

Peterson said to prevent credit card fraud, retailers must be aware of policies, procedures and security features.

Warning signs to watch for: a customer offering a credit card but refusing to offer identification; the name of the credit card is different from the identification card; the card is unsigned’ the signature appears different than the identification; the card has already expired.

Peterson said retailers should use a UV black light to detect the holograms in the credit cards, the embossing, the magnetic stripe for the Uniform Commercial Code and the signature panel. Counterfeit cards usually lack these security features.

Consumers are also urged to secure credit cards and PIN numbers, limit skimming possibilities and report lost or stolen cards immediately. They should not  leave cards unattended, must not respond to unsolicited email that request you to provide sensitive information like date of birth, Social Security number, bank account information and other personal information.

 First published HERE