Make sure you don’t fall victim to this chip card scam
The country is
progressing quickly on the path to replacing magnetic strip swipe cards with new, more secure chip cards. The switch to chip cards marks an effort to improve security and prevent fraud and identity theft.
The move to embrace this technology, which is already the standard in many other countries, was partially motivated by the highly publicized security breaches at several major retailers over the past few years. While the move to chip cards will improve security overall, there are some scammers who are trying to take advantage of the temporary confusion during the switch.
Last October marked the deadline for retailers to update their point-of-sale systems so that they could read the new chip cards. Any retailers that didn’t meet that deadline were at risk of being held liable for fraudulent transactions that may have been prevented with the new chip card systems.
“The new cards provide more security because the microchip creates a unique code for each use to help authenticate a transaction,” according to Kathryn Vasel of CNN Money. “Older cards store that payment data in the magnetic strip on the back, which is easy to steal, replicate and put on fake cards.”
As retailers across the country switched over, financial institutions began sending out new cards. During this time, a new identity theft scam arose. The scammers pose as financial institutions and send emails in an attempt to collect valuable personal information. They sometimes ask people to confirm or provide updated personal information so that a new card can be sent.
Other times, they provide a link that they claim will take people to their financial institution’s website so they can start the process of getting a new card. Unfortunately, these sites are used to gather information that can be used for identity theft. Even if you don’t input any information, just clicking the link can cause problems.
“If you click on the link, you may unknowingly install malware on your device,” according to Colleen Tressler, a consumer education specialist with the Federal Trade Commission. “Malware programs can cause your device to crash, monitor your online activity, send spam, steal personal information and commit fraud.”
You can avoid these scams by keeping in mind that your financial institution will never ask you for personal information over email or the phone. If you receive a call asking for information, hang up and call back yourself, using the number provided on the back of your card. You may have to give your account number over the phone when you call, but since you typed in the number yourself, you know the correct people are hearing it.
Likewise, do not respond to emails with any personal information. If you think you may have a legitimate email from your financial institution, it is important to close the email and navigate to the financial institution’s website from a new browser. That way, you know you are going to the correct URL — one that you type in yourself — and not risking a link that redirects to a scammer’s site. You should also check that the website you are on is secure before putting in any information. If you can’t find the page that the link referred to, you can call your financial institution to confirm the email was legitimate before you use the link.
If you keep this information in mind and remember that it is always better to play it safe and take the extra step to ensure that your communications are with your actual financial institution, then you can stay safe from this chip card scam.
Used with Permission. Published by IMN Bank Adviser Includes copyrighted material of IMakeNews, Inc. and its suppliers.