Card Fraud

Understanding what card fraud looks like and how fraudsters might act in person or over the phone is the first step to preventing criminals successfully targeting your business. 

Spotting a suspicious customer

Whether in-person or over the phone, customers acting suspiciously is the first step in spotting card fraud. A person using a stolen or counterfeit card may appear agitated or nervous  and/ or is may take an unusual amount of time completing the transaction. Here are other indicators that they may be using a stolen card:

Taking payment when the card is present

Using Chip and PIN / Contactless on your card terminal offers your business the best protection against potential card fraud. By not using these security features, and allowing a cardholder to swipe or sign, you open your business up to being targeted by fraudsters using stolen or cloned cards. It’s important to be cautious in these situations.

Completing transactions when you can’t see the card (i.e. over the phone)

Card fraud is always a risk for businesses that accept card payments where the card is not physically present (i.e. taking payments over the phone, through a virtual terminal, or in-person sales where a business puts card details through their point of sales terminal  without using the chip security/ contactless functionality).