Even though skimming is many times a high-tech enterprise, it does not require the use of card readers and/or computer equipment.  An employee who writes down the card information is just as guilty as somebody using high technology means.  Avoid this situation when possible.  MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover will fine merchants who are destined to be a “point of weakness” in this form of credit card fraud.

Meanwhile, Visa will reward $1,000 to anybody who furnishes information leading to the arrest of a “skimmer.”  Therefore, be vigilant when it comes to employee fraud.

How to Prevent Credit Card Skimming

At your job:

• Look out for anybody using any electronic device that is not part of your daily routine.
• Be suspicious of anybody offering you money to record credit card account information.
• Be suspicious of anybody asking for customer account information over the phone.
• Look out for the latest con game which involves using a cell phone to take pictures of the card.

If you witness any of the above conditions, contact your card merchant right away.

Warning Signs of Credit Card Fraud

Be on the lookout for customers who:

• Buy a lot of merchandise with no regard to size, style, price, or color.
• Ask no questions on large purchases.
• Attempt to distract or hurry you during the sale.
• Make purchases and come back later to make additional purchases.
• Make big purchases at the opening or at the last minute when the store is about to close.
• Refuse to have the goods delivered for free on larger items. 

If you suspect fraud going on:

• Detain the customer’s credit card nonchalantly.
• Follow your company’s procedures regarding possible fraud and notify your manager.
• Contact your voice authorization center and ask for a “Code 10″ authorization in a very normal tone of voice so as not to alert the customer.  The counselor will advise you on what to do.

Caution:  Always maintain safety at all times to yourself and those around  you.

There are lots of fraud schemes out there such as the credit card skimming.  It is up to you to educate yourself to recognize what is and is not legitimate.  By doing so, you can minimize becoming a victim to the crime of credit card skimming.

Click here for a video that explains the risk of non-PCI compliance

PCI & Credit Card Security: Background

Ever since magnetic strip cards were developed, both restaurateur and their customers have been enjoying the convenience of accepting and using credit and debit cards. However, given the skyrocketing cost and frequency of credit fraud, major card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB) have taken preventive measures to safeguard their stakeholders.

After IBM invented the mag stripe on credit cards in in 1968, it became the industry standard. Given that the track data on the mag stripe is easy to read and duplicate, the branded cards, with the set of standards that the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has built, it clearly stated the first directive: ‘Don’t store track data.’

The PCI Standards

The three-pronged approach that the PCI Security Standards Council took to protect consumers, banks and merchants/restaurateurs:

• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) ? embraces all entities that store, process, or transmit cardholder data: Merchants, restaurateurs, service providers, processors, etc.

Deadline for Compliance: Month of January 2007 (deadlines are long passed)

What it Means – All restaurateurs (in spite of size) must complete and submit a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire annually to their Acquiring Bank.

• PA?DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard) ? including all applications used to store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. (Point-of-Sale (POS) application developers)

Deadlines for Compliance:

Oct. 1, 2008 ? Only the software that is compliant with the new payment application security standards must be used by agents, merchants and payment processors.

Oct. 1, 2009 ? Terminate any noncompliant payment applications that merchants might still have in their environments will be required.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandatory use of only the payment applications that support the new standards.

What this Means – If, after the deadline, a merchant/restaurateur is not running a PA DSS-validated application, means that they automatically fail their PCI assessment and could possibly lose their ability to accept credit cards.

• Pin Entry Devices (PED) Standard – embraces all PEDs and it aims to ensure that the cardholder’s personal identification number (PIN), including any sensitive information such as resident keys, are protected consistently at a PIN acceptance device.

Deadline for Compliance:

Jan. 1, 2004 ? For newly purchased Point of Sale (POS) PIN Entry Devices should pass testing by a Visa recognized laboratory and approved by Visa.

July 1, 2010 ? Mandates that all deployed Point of Sale (POS) PEDs must have passed testing by a PCI recognized laboratory and been approved by the PCI SSC.

Which Means ? All Merchants/restaurant owners gets two years to replace their old and unapproved PEDs.

The Do’s With Payment Card Industry (PCI)

• Do routine vulnerability scans of your systems.

• Prepare a security awareness training for your employees.

• Audits for system access.

• You must your system activity logs.

• Access privileges must be removed for separated employees.

• Do install software patches.

• Be responsible when it comes to any threats, have an incident response plan.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Don’ts

• Avoid storing or archiving whole credit card numbers.

• Transmitting credit card data unencrypted should not be practiced.

• PCI is not simply about proving you are compliant with the standards – it’s all about protecting your customers and your business.

PCI’s Effect on Restaurateurs

Given consumers’ expectation of universal acceptance of credit and debit cards, a restaurateur’s validation that they are protecting their customer’s personal information is good for business:

Reputation / Image

For a highly competitive business – no restaurateur would want to be referred to as the eatery where a customer’s card data was stolen.

Protects Your Credit / Debit Card Payments Acceptance Ability – by not complying with the rules and/or a breach can jeopardize a merchants’/restaurateur’s ability to accept credit/debit payments. There are several cases that 80% to 90% of transactions are through credit/debit payments. Losing the ability to accept credit/debit cards means reduced traffic/customers.

The Effects of State Privacy Laws

A breach that discloses personal credit card information in one of the 40+ States with privacy laws may have a double impact on a restaurateur. Being off-side with PCI may result in penalties and lawsuit costs. Being off-side with State Privacy Laws is a felony with potentially more serious consequences.

Compliance / Security Strategy

• Be sure you are using a PA?DSS or PABP validated POS system

• Make sure you’re using an approved PED

• Hold regular security awareness training for your employees, especially for supervisors

• Do background checks on any employee with administrative access to your system

• Have your staff sign a ‘Confidentiality Agreement’

• If you’re not sure how to complete the PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), you can always ask

• If gaps in PCI compliance are identified, develop a realistic plan to straighten it out

• Maintain mature controls to sustain compliance

• Accessing controls

• Dual factor for system and device management

• Strong passwords and secure password storage

• Keep monitoring system activities for potential attacks and record evidences

• Controlling your wireless access points

• Maintain a secure configuration

• Segment networks

• Maintain an Incident Response Plan and Test It

• Test and audit the cardholder environment like your business depended on it

It can be difficult task the first time but when everything else is in place, ongoing PCI compliance is not an expensive undertaking. Besides, it’s a good practice for businesses to protect the sensitive data that your customers entrust with you.

Any Questions?

For more information and advice on this topic you can quickly contact a Restaurant POS professional serving your area at www.POS-For-Restaurants.com

The author of this article writes for POS-For-Restaurants.com – a VP of Customer Relations with over 20 years experience in the industry of restaurant point of sale system.

In our today’s economy, every cent counts and adding them to your bottom line is possible in the middle of economic crisis. Are are some steps that will increase your profits, by boosting your sales, reducing debit card fees and expenses, and most of all block theft.

In the food service industry, if you’re running a restaurant point of sale system then this simple tips can greatly help you grow your business!

Checks

Checks are still widely used, especially among older customers. So if you have not been accepting checks, start soon. There are POS equipments that can scan checks as fast as credit cards, measure them against a nationwide database of bad check writers, electronically deposit the money, and can guarantee that funds will be delivered to you within a couple of days. In addition, the cost is typically lower than for credit cards and could add 10-15 percent to sales—and possibly more if you have many senior customers.

Accepting Credit Cards

If you do accept credit cards, you’re probably accepting Visa and MasterCard already. But what about Discover and American Express? Particularly, the latter accompanies larger transactions in general. If you’ve hesitated because the fee is higher, reconsider—you may also think that it’s not worth it even a 1% difference, and because American Express transactions are often larger than those of other cards, you’ll make it up in gross profit. Furthermore, customers will coming back because they’ll know that your business accepts all forms of credit cards.

Researching

Most merchants think their fees are 1.69% plus an additional $.19 because that’s their qualified rate on a pricing program tier. Though fewer than 20 of 100 transactions receives low qualified rate and all the rest downgrade and cost one, two, or even three percent. By researching for alternate programs that offer different interchange rates that may end up saving more than what you’ve expected.

Insist of Understanding Rather Than Having a Conflict

Neither you nor your bookkeeper would have to scratch the back of your heads over a complex credit card statement that just doesn’t fit. A few companies have made extraordinary efforts to simplify these reports. You should be able to reconcile your statement and rates without exceeding 15 minutes.

Getting Your Reports Online

The post office is slow, don’t wait any longer for them to deliver you a letter of disputing a charge. Using the internet, you will know within 24 hours, which ables you to aggressively defend against chargebacks. With a quick response, it can increase your success rates and reduce your losses.

No need to scratch your head over complex credit card statements and for your bookkeeper as well.

Use the Card Validation Value and Address Verification System. They are highly effective fraud screens proven to reduce losses, and when using them correctly, you obtain the lowest possible rate for discounts.

In addition, you need to avoid hackers by being PCI compliant. Hackers can cause merchants huge fines, and drive them out of business. Find time to read Visa’s report on noncompliant systems, be alert at all cost.

Taking Care Of Chargebacks

If you run an online business, either by internet orders or by phone, it’s always a great idea to implement the “Verified by Visa” or “MasterCard Secure Code” plug-in on your web site. This will eliminate cardholder nonauthorization chargebacks. Liability for these chargebacks is shifted away back to the issuing card bank, and you qualify for the lowest discount rate available. Just by following this simple step, you can eliminate up to 80% of all chargebacks and increase your profits.

With over 20 years of restaurant point of sale experience and helping businesses in the food-service industry nationwide increase their efficiency and bottom-line profits, the author of this article is the VP of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants.com.

You may visit POS-For-Restaurants.com for further understanding of how our national network of restaurant point of sale professionals can help your business achieve greater success in these difficult economic times.

The line at the front desk was mercifully short. One clerk caught Rachel’s attention and signaled her forward — she gave him her reservation information and then dug out her American Express card for payment. As he stepped away to verify its authenticity Rachel’s eyes surveyed the lobby. “They’ve updated everything since I was last here”, she thought. Her concentration, clouded by fatigue, was now on the mission style tables, chairs, and light fixtures, which had replaced the heavy, wooden furniture previously occupying the lobby. “Here is your card and room key, ma’am,” the clerk interrupted minutes later. Quickly, Rachel stuffed her card back into her wallet, gathered her bags and whisked away to her room.

Rachel was a victim of identity theft that night, but did not know it at the time. Had she kept a watchful eye on what her clerk was doing instead of studying the lobby, she might have noticed him switching cards on her. At the very least, she would have seen that the card handed to her beneath her room key was not her own.

Identity theft is an exploding problem that has increased exponentially in this technological age. Particularly since the early 1990’s thieves have been taking advantage of what we would consider every day transactions: writing a check at the grocery store, ordering merchandise via the internet, applying for a credit card, using your cell phone, and more. Each transaction requires you to share personal information: your bank and credit card account numbers; your income, your Social Security Number (SSN); and your name, address, and phone numbers.

An identity thief will lift some piece of your personal information and appropriate it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft. One of the most common methods is when the identity thief uses your personal information to open a credit card account in your name.

The Federal Trade Commission is the arm of the federal government tasked with overseeing the problem of identity theft. A special hotline number (1-877-IDTHEFT) was created for consumers for identity theft protection to call to place your information in a database which is accessible with other law enforcement agencies and private entities, including any companies about which you may complain. Additionally, an ID Theft Affidavit — a form you can use to alert companies where a new account was opened in your name — can be filled out and given to the company. This affidavit is available at consumer.gov to consumers.

Identity thieves can get your personal information in a number of ways:

* They steal wallets and purse containing your i.d. and credit and bank cards.

* They steal your mail, including your bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, telephone calling cards and tax information.

* They complete a “change of address form” to divert your mail to another location.

* They rummage through your trash, or the trash of businesses, for personal data in a practice known as “dumpster diving.”

* They fraudulently obtain your credit report by posing as a landlord, employer or someone else who may have a legitimate need for — and a legal right to — the information.

* They get your business or personnel records at work.

* They find personal information in your home.

* They use personal information you share on the internet.

* They buy your personal information from “inside” sources. For example, an identity thief may pay a store employee for information about you that appears on an application for goods, services or credit.

Identity thieves will then take the personal information they have obtained about you and use it in a number of different ways:

* They will call your credit card issuer and, pretending to be you, ask to change the mailing address on your credit card account. The imposter then runs up charges on your account. Because your bills are being sent to the new address, it may take some time before you realize that there is a problem.

* They open a new credit card account, using your name, date of birth and SSN. When they sue the credit card and don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is reported on your credit report.

* They establish phone or wireless service in your name.

* They open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that account.

* They file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts they have incurred under your name, or to avoid eviction.

* They counterfeit checks or debits cards, and drain your bank account.

* They buy cars by taking out auto loans in your name.

Fortunately for Rachel, American Express covered her losses. Although she didn’t find out about the theft until she reached her home in California, American Express suspended her account when a number of suspicious charges appeared and she couldn’t be reached by them to verify the charges. Their fraud department left a message on her phone answering machine instructing her to call them and, when she did, Rachel was notified that someone else was using her card. When she explained that she had the card in her possession, she checked her purse and found a card for someone else instead.

Visa, MasterCard and American Express absorb the cost of fraud as long as they are notified by the consumer [certain restrictions may apply — check with your card issuer for specific details]. Had Rachel used a debit card, the story might have been much different. Unlike a credit card, the debit card takes a direct hit on your bank account, meaning that you will have to absorb the loss.

So, all is well with Rachel, right? Sure, American Express overnighted a new card with a new account number for Rachel to use on her next trip, but the problem could very well have continued — and deepened — had she not taken three more steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission:

First, contact the fraud departments of each of the three major credit bureaus. Tell them that you are a victim of identity theft. Request that a “fraud alert” be placed in your file, as well as a victim’s statement asking that creditors call you before opening any new accounts or changing your existing accounts. This can help prevent an identity thief from opening additional accounts in your name.

At the same time, order copies of your credit reports from the credit bureaus. Credit bureaus must give you a free copy of your report if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, and you make that request in writing. Review your reports carefully to make sure no additional fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or unauthorized changes made to your existing accounts.

Second, contact the creditors for any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Creditors can include credit card companies, phone companies and other utilities, and banks and other lenders.

Third, if possible, file a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the police report in case the bank, credit card company or others need proof of the crime. Even if the police are unable to catch the thief, the report can be helpful when dealing with creditors.

In summation, identity theft is a problem that is causing businesses and consumers billions of dollars per year. As a result, higher interest rates and an increase in the cost of goods and services is passed on to consumers. So, do not be a victim - prevent identity theft and protect yourself from identity theft by remaining alert especially when a third party is handling your personal information.

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When you search for www.boyssocks.org you will find different things like zero interest for them the introductory months, balance transfers, balanced rates, and sometimes yearly fees and other things.

First of all people need to search for what kind of thing interests them the most. For me I like a good Boys Socks help. There are a lot of sites where you can find an honest information for debts and Boys Socks on the market today, and I seem to prefer the ones that give airline miles. So I tried to spend a lot of things on my airline miles reward cards credit card.

First of all see what kind of rewards card or other type of benefit you want in a credit card, then search the different companies and see which one has what you like the best. I think everyone has a preference when it comes to searching for a credit card company. Some prefer American Express, some Visa, some Mastercard, and of course there are others to choose from if you’d like. A simple search on the internet will give you a whole list. See what you can find and feel free to comment. Thank you.

cover-yourhome-contents.org.uk