|
 Credit
card theft is a growing problem. Personally, I have had a
credit card number stolen and used by someone in England. I was shocked
when I discovered how litte is done to protect our credit card numbers.
You need to take action to protect your credit card information,
because nobody else is looking out for your best interests.
Beginning December 5, 2006, federal law mandates that
mercants must not print your credit or debit card expiration date
or more than the last 5 digits of your card number on your electronic
receipt. The law does allow receipts that are hand written or mechanically
imprinted to show your entire number and expiration date, even
after December 4, 2006. Note: The law does not prohibit companies
from printing your full credit card number on the receipt they
keep, which is where your information is most at risk. After all,
I know what I do with my receipts; what does the merchant do with
them? An employee could easily copy the number and expiration date
from the receipt.
In my experience as
many as third of all the merchant copies of receipts I check have
the entire credit card number on them. You need to black out your
credit card number on the merchant's receipt before giving it back
to them. You have the right to do this, and they cannot stop
you. I
do it all the time, and if the person behind the counter looks puzzled
I explain why I'm doing it.
For more information, go to my Credit
Card Theft page. |
