Stores credit card warning
Wednesday 10th June 2009, 2:59PM BST.
Emma Martins: Shoppers must be vigilant
SHOPPERS have been warned to be vigilant after it was revealed that stores have been exposing personal information by printing full bank details on credit card
receipts.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner issued the warning after receiving at least six reports that shops have been failing to replace bank details with asterisks.
It is feared that many more Islanders could have had their personal bank details printed on receipts. In one case, a woman contacted the office after a shop printed her name, card number, expiry date and full account number.
It is not known how many Island stores have been printing the detailed receipts, which could be used by criminals to plunder the account or apply for a credit card in the victim’s name.
Emma Martins, data protection commissioner, said: ‘The potential for misuse of this information should not be underestimated. I would urge everyone to be vigilant. If too much information has been printed on someone’s receipt, they should challenge the business which printed it and make sure that they dispose of the receipt securely.’
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How about nameing these shops so we can avoid them ?
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yes I have also noticed this on certain credit card transactions that I have done. In the world that we live in today why has this been allowed to happen?, one would have thought that the credit card companies would have been onto this like a shot!
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Thank God i’m able to use cash, i would not use a credit card at all after the recent farce with the banking crisis.
What does not help are the shops that have now decided they will not take local cheques, these are the shops that won’t get my business !!!
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Nice touch by some local shops especially during the “Think Twice, Buy Local” campaign.
Always keep your receipts and shred them when you get home.
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too right pjg, i complained to a member of staff about this a while ago, this place did not have chip and pin yet,sadly i have now forgotten where it was.
maybe data protection should take them to task over this.
insurance against fraud is available from your
bank, not a bad price when you look at the bigger picture.
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Unbelievable !
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I agree – we should be informed which shops have let this happen.
Some people may have used the shops and now their data could be compromised. People should have the opportunity to change their cards etc.
But the information probably can’t be released because it is against data protection!
Think twice – Think local!!!!!!
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In defence of the shops – they are not accustomed to selling anything due to the high percentage of internet shopping. When they do get a rare sale they are not used to the new credit card technology.
Another reason to think twice and shop online.
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Yes a couple of shops who still do this are using the older ,cheaper credit card readers.I mentioned this six months ago to a petrol station attendant and they just shrugged their shoulders.Their copies of reciepts may end up at the dump and not shredded.
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If you don’t have a shredder, or simply have a backlog of receipts for shredding just pile them all into a bowl of warm water with a tiny bit of bleach in it, leave for a bit, squeeze the water out of the receipts and bin. Takes up less of your time and it’s quieter.
And these shops should definitely be named. Not for retribution just for people’s personal security.
For once can someone do the right thing by the people?
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A few pointers for some of the above comments: –
This was not an issue with all older generation (i.e. no chip & pin) credit/debit card machines. Most of them did not print all details on the receipt. The reason chip and pin was brought in is to protect you from someone cloning and duplicating/finding/stealing your card and easily forging your signature to make a purchase. So just because the machine isn’t chip and pin doesn’t mean it prints all your details.
Those saying internet shopping is safer because of this have obviously forgotten that when they purchase online they do not use their pin number even if the card has one. i.e. internet purchasing is still subject to the same fraud suffered by the old card machines i.e. someone can steal your card and use it on the internet with no further security pass needed. The only time internet purchasing is totally safe from card fraud of this type is when the retailer will only deliver to the card holders address.
As for cheques – good riddance. They’re a waste paper, take too long to complete, they can bounce, can easily be forged, take up more resource and cost more to process. Join the 21st century!
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Mogit complained that “What does not help are the shops that have now decided they will not take local cheques . . .”
This is now standard practice throughout the UK and – for all I know – in other banking jurisdictions throughout the world.
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#12, so true!
And yet, bizarrely, someone was virtually badgering me into giving them a cheque the other day rather than have me nip around the corner quickly to life cash
#11, Joker, you’re right that it’s not just old machines, I’ve got receipts from years ago that only have the last four digits.
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What about the shops that are still here in Jersey that ask for your signature, but the younger staff don’t even turn the card over to look at the one on the card? What do they think you are actually signing the bit of paper for?
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Joker – when I buy online I am asked for my memorable word or password from barclays as well as my 4 digit pin number – again with paypal i am asked for my password
don’t know where you’re shopping online but with Barclays they even call you up to make sure you authorised the purchases.
I once queried the fact that my numbers appeared on my receipt and a foreign girl just said it’s voided and tried to take my card again. I called the police (mainly because I couldn’t understand the girl) and it turned out that she had been selling these receipt on.
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That’s an interesting point Lula. I’m not saying that a Jersey person couldn’t be selling on this information but to me it seems more probable that someone who has already done this in their home country would see somewhere like Jersey as fertile ground for such a crime.
I don’t believe that people from outside Jersey are any more likely to commit crimes than those raised here, but what you will see with people coming in is behaviour that is simply common place to them (maybe they are from a large city) coming here with them. That can’t be avoided really, but the law has to be laid down hard that Jersey is not a large city and will not accept the same types of behaviour as large cities see. Some behaviour that is accepted in large cities may be classed as anti-social or even criminal here.
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