Talk:Credit card fraud

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[edit] Credit Card Companies

The statement that credit card companies and banks profit from fraud is inaccurate. First, due to limitations on certain private sector and non-durable retail goods, on average only about 40-50% of retail transactions can be charged back to a merchant. In addition, there are no chargeback rights on cash transactions (ATM withdrawals, Over the Counter Bank withdrawals, wire money transfers, and gambling-related charges - which account for tens of millions of dollars in fraud annually), so banks lose 100% of the fraud in these situations. This is also the case with some convenience checks that are written fraudulently from credit card accounts. The bank does not retain fees for these charges, as stated in the article. Also, the statement (without a source) from the Wall Street Journal about "research and investigation fees" is not solely related to fraud but includes payment and non-fraud billing inquiry research too, making this claim misleading. While the methods outlined in this section are used to lessen fraud losses to some extent, claiming that financial institutions actually profit from fraud is completely incorrect, and since there are no citations to prove any of the statements made, I suggest that the section be reworded, rewritten, or removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stickfigureparade (talk • contribs) 05:40, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Copyleft violation

Content literally lifted without attribution on a link farm site: http://www.fraudwatchernetwork.com/website/credit-card-fraud.html JavaWoman 04:39, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

  • For clarity, it is probably fraudwatchernetwork.com using Wikipedias content without permission, and not the other way around. I almost removed the larger part of the article for copyright violation there. --Apoc2400 08:50, 25 August 2005 (UTC)
I will be looking into this, if necessary, I'll rewrite the information for new content. Alphabeter 00:50 24 April 2006 (UTC)
That page has been suspended by its host. Stifle (talk) 12:26, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Would you also look into this site. At least the charge-back part seems to be verbatim copying:

http://www.answers.com/topic/credit-card-fraud

Well They do credit Wikipedia (I missed that at first) so I assume it is cool with you guys. I'll leave this here just in case, as you can delete it if it is.
answers.com mirrors many wikipedia articles -- 12.116.162.162 19:03, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] FRAUD PREVENTIONS

This was a blank category, but I'll take it as a suggestion for the article. Alphabeter 00:50 24 April 2006 (UTC)


Safety precautions at a cash dispenser (ATM) "Try to use ATMs in an isolated location to reduce the chance of robbery or someone seeing the PIN-number you have entered" - this is terrible advice. You want to use an ATM in a busy area, where you are less likely to be robbed! Not in an abandoned alley, where you are alone and "safe."

[edit] Cleanup

I'll be doing cleanup on this page. Add any comments to my desk. Alphabeter 00:50 24 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tone

This article needs to be written more as an encyclopedia article and less as a how-to. Stifle (talk) 12:18, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

In fact, it probably needs to be rewritten completely, with sections delimited properly and so on. Stifle (talk) 12:25, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Note

(→General precautions - "* Sign the card, but then write "ASK FOR ID" to force the merchant to verify your Identification." this isn't true, the card must be signed to be valid.)

Actually, you don't need to sign the card for it to be valid. A lot of places won't even check. If it is swipped or the ID # on the back is used, it's as valid to the credit card company as checking an ID or having a signature, probably even more so, because it shows you actually HAVE the card, instead of just the credit card number and expiration date. --Sir VG 06:40, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I know that; I've swiped countless unsigned cards, though I know it's wrong—so I'm a hypocrite. But merchants are supposed to refuse to accept unsigned cards—at least according to the terms of their agreements with Visa, MasterCard, and AmEx. [1] — Miles←☎ 06:14, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
Aside from that, why is this even in the article anyway? Wikipedia is not a how-to. Stifle (talk) 19:12, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
It hasn't been in the article for a few weeks. — Miles←☎ 01:21, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
By Visa and Mastercard regulations, a credit card must be signed for it to be valid. If a merchant accepts a credit card that is not signed, the transaction can be charged back for that reason. If the consumer shows that the card wasn't signed, the merchant looses.

Persons that commit credit card crime largely go unpunished and repeatedly victimize consumers and businesses. The Secret Service handles crimes involving the US money supply, they have a limit of $2,000 before investigating each crime. Most credit card criminals know this and keep purchases from any one business below $2,000. With credit card crime occurring across state lines, criminals often are never prosecuted because the dollar amounts are too low for local law enforcement to pay for extradition.

I can't find any source of the secret service setting a floor limit. I want someone to back up this statement with a source, otherwise it should/will be deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.176.3.171 (talk) 20:38, 6 September 2007 (UTC)


Why wouldnt you sign the card, but then write "also ask for ID" on it? [this has worked for me, 98% of the time they also ask for my ID]

Yes, I've heard of this idea; it's particularly stupid one. 82.20.6.250 (talk) 21:57, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Because most places I go to don't check ID, even when cards say "See ID". I make a habit of pulling my ID out and handing it with the card anyways. A simple solution would be a federal law requiring merchants to verify with photo ID. When I worked at OfficeMax, I had people really pissed off at me because I asked for ID. If you are going to get that upset, use cash. Seriously, Congress needs to step in and radically change Federal law to protect consumers. There shouldn't be an opt-out for prescreened credit offers; it should be an opt-in. Nobody should have access to a credit report unless the consumer specifically authorizes access. That won't happen because the banking industry wants to continue to prey on consumers by sending out prescreened offers. -- 12.116.162.162 18:52, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Also, I had a debit card that had been used so much, the signature panel had worn off in several places, and the words "VOID" were clearly visable. It was like this for several months and I never had my card rejected by the merchant. -- 12.116.162.162 18:55, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

-You have to realize that most merchants don't train their personnel to check ID correctly, especially if you go to a place like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or a similar store where you generally have a lot of fraud charges taking place, because there are young kids working who either don't care or weren't trained correctly. Stickfigureparade (talk) 05:45, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Asking for id

Requesting id is fairly common in Australia for high-value or high-risk transactions. Are merchants doing it in contravention of laws or issuer agreements? It seems unlikely. Maybe the statement that they are not allowed to ask for id needs to be qualified as "in some jurisdictions"? Subsolar 07:15, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Familiar Fraud

I propose that there should be a section dedicated to Familiar Fraud - use of credit cards fraudulently by friends/family members/acquaintances. Many US banks treat this type of fraud differently than standard "anonymous" credit card fraud (I don't know if this is true outside the US). For example, the claim that "Once you report the incident, you are no longer responsible for unauthorized charges made on your card" is incorrect when a friend or family member is a suspect. If it can be reasonably proven that the friend or family member had access to the card and made the unauthorized charges, the victim may still be held responsible. Stickfigureparade (talk) 07:52, 22 February 2008 (UTC)