Keeping your ATM and credit cards safe

Electronic fraud stories abound.

There was the one about patrons of a high-end restaurant in Makati whose credit cards were skimmed. It turned out that a member of the restaurant staff used a palm-sized device called a skimmer to copy the information on the magnetic tape of each credit card that was given to him by the diners. The skimmed data were then encoded into fake cards that were later used to charge purchases on the account of the original cardholders.

And then, there was the prominent lawyer who was asked to fill up a personal information sheet, including his credit card number, by a group that invited him as a speaker. The cardholder found out his card had been compromised only when he got his monthly billing, which included huge purchases he did not make.

It turned out that someone went shopping on the Internet with the lawyer’s credit card without his knowledge. When credit approval was sought, the holder of the card used the lawyer’s personal information sheet to answer all the personal questions thrown his way by the card officer.

A growing concern

Based on data from the Credit Card Association of the Philippines, counterfeiting accounts for 80% to 90% of credit card frauds. Skimming is the favorite form of counterfeiting, accounting for 70% to 80% of the total.

There are two common ways to skim a credit card. The point of sale terminal of a store can be tampered or replaced to access all the card transactions. Another way is to bribe a member of the store to use a skimmer.

Last year, CCAP placed total fraud-related losses in the country at P200 million, double the amount in 2000. This year, the amount is expected to further increase as Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan clamp down on credit card fraud.

In the Philippines, fraud using credit and charge cards as well as debit and express payment ATM cards are covered by the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 or Republic Act 8484. Although the law makes the mere possession of a card that is not yours a punishable act, going after the bad guys is hampered by two factors: one, is the long prosecution process; and two, is the hesitancy of merchant establishments to testify.

Being careful

"In many cases, fraud can be prevented if the cardholder treats the card as cash, which it is , " said former CCAP committee chairman on security and risk Gerardo Santos. "You don’t leave your cash on the table at home or in the office. You don’t give your cash to just anybody in the department store or hand it over to the cashier and forget about it. Why shouldn’t you do the same with your ATM or credit card?"

Santos, who held the CCAP position for three years, is currently a senior investigator of the Citigroup Security & Investigative Services, Asia Pacific. In Citibank’s case, several measures to arrest fraud-related transactions, including blocking off a card suspected of having been tampered, have been adopted.

"When we suspect that a card has been skimmed, we block it off and try to reach the cardholder before it is used again," said Santos. "In some cases, we are able to alert the cardholder that a new card is on its way but there are times we are not able to do this. Although this has inconvenienced some clients, we feel that this is a risk we have to take for their ultimate benefit."

Guarding against fraud

Here’s some more guidelines to guard against fraud.

* Sign your new cards as soon as they arrive and cut up your old cards when they expire. Many cardholders prefer to sign their new cards only when they are about to use them. A lot of things can, however, happen between the time the new card is delivered and the time it is used.

* Memorize your personal identification number or PIN. Only you should know this number. Don’t inadvertently give out your PIN by asking a family member or a friend to withdraw cash from your ATM account or to get a cash advance from your credit card. For ATM cardholders, do not allow shoulder surfing or people peering over your shoulder as you transact. Ask them to keep a safe distance. Remember, your PIN is a secret.

* When buying goods, ensure that the salesperson processes your transaction within the same store and does not take your card to another store. In some flea markets or tiangges that accept credit cards, getting the approval from the card issuer is done in the tiangge and the swiping of the card’s magnetic tape is done in another store. Follow your card and don’t let it out of your sight.

* Immediately call the card issuer if your card is lost or stolen. Remember that you will end up paying any charges made on an unreported lost or stolen card.

* Report any unfamiliar transactions in your monthly statement of account. Some cardholders pay the amount due on their statement without checking if all the transactions are valid. Failure to report unfamiliar transactions within 30 days of receiving the monthly statement means all the purchases are confirmed and valid.