MANAGEMENT: Avoiding credit card fraud

by | Jul 18, 2011 | Body Shop News

Regulators and law enforcement agencies believe the still-sputtering economy is to blame for a rise in credit card fraud. Jackie Hart, a risk manager with Total System Services, Inc. (TSYS), a large credit card processing company, offers these tips to businesses to avoid being a victim of credit card fraud:
• Be wary of cards that are not signed or lack the standard security features (hologram, 3- or 4-digit security code).
• Use the address verification service that card processors offer to ensure your customer’s address matches the account.
• Swipe the card to make it more difficult for a cardholder to deny having made a charge; if swiping fails, get an imprint of the card and a signature.
• Only give it one chance. If a card is swiped and declined, just ask for a different form of payment rather than trying it again.
• To help spot a fake card, check to make sure the last four digits of the card number are also on the back of the card.
• The first six digits of the card number (the “BIN”) also can be entered at one of several websites (www.binbase.com or www.bindb.com) to find the name and country of the issuing bank; if those don’t match what’s on the card, it’s another sign it’s not a legitimate card.