A report released by banking payments body Apacs, suggesting that fraud abroad increased by 126 per cent in the first six months of 2006 due to the UK’s chip-and-pin system, is a testament to the effectiveness of this new technology and PCI regulations, it is claimed.
Andrew Hewson, Risk Mitigation Specialist at Telindus, feels that while the UK has benefited from chip-and-pin our success raises concern for others, as fraudsters are now being driven overseas to use copied stolen cards, potentially hitting the UK’s millions of tourists.
What they say
“Thanks to PCI, financial institutes are now offering increased security, but the biggest danger is social engineering or phishing. This high tech defence has overlooked the low tech route of verbal phishing. Although most people are familiar with the e-mails they receive asking for bank details, many still readily answer security questions over the phone without confirming the caller’s identity. Details such as a name, address and date of birth can go along way to help criminals piece together their target’s profile like a jigsaw puzzle. To solve this issue, financial institutions need to put in place ‘challenge and response’ passwords, whereby the organisation provides a password to the user as proof of identity and receives the end users response to confirm identity.”
To reduce risk of being a victim of fraud, tourists can follow the following steps:
When signing for goods or services always check the amount
If there is any need to resign the slip, always request the damaged slip and destroy it yourself
Ask for the carbon paper insert as well as the receipt
Keep a record of all your transactions, no matter how small, in a notebook and check your statements carefully against till receipts
Make sure that the card remains in your sight whilst the transaction goes through. Do not let them take it away as a copy can be made in seconds.
If you have any cause for concern contact your credit card company IMMEDIATELY with all the details
Never use your date of birth as your pin code.
