www.iva.co.uk

This is not really a post of a professional nature, just an observation and I wondered if anyone else had noticed.

The introduction of chip and pin was a while back now, but I have noticed that anytime I pay for something with my card, the assistant/shopkeeper/checkout attendant etc NEVER checks the card itself you just put it in the reader and enter the pin. I could be using a card that belongs, for example, to the Mrs and they never check. Seems a bit lax to me.

Regards.

Would Mrs Size let you use her card then?

correct,and how hard would it be to oversee someone entering the pin,giving that the card readers appear to be in porminant positions especially in supermarkets.

MelanieGiles wrote:

Would Mrs Size let you use her card then?

LMAO!!

Well, Size5, I shouldn't say this but......hubby used my card the other day for petrol! I was in Tesco and I gave it him so he could use it outside in the petrol station. I didn't know whether they would check and I would have gone out if they had.....but they didn't! [:0]

I agree - the attitude seems to be oh well it's chip and pin, no need for me to have a look. I bought petrol earlier in the week (a painful experience!) and I had to sign rather than enter my pin, and the guy actually had to look at the card.

A while ago before chip and pin Dave's sister in law picked up her husband's credit card by mistake and actually managed to use it - nothing was questioned even after she signed the slip.

When my wife;s card was full up, she use to borrow mine and do the shopping. No-one ever batted an eyelid.

My son and daughter use mine to pop round to tescos all the time. Occaisonally in other shops its come up as a signiture and I was once refused as I hadnt signed it. I think I would rather the kids use the card than lose the cash.. I can trust them, but if the stores ever did check and refused it, I wouldnt mind that either.

Its a scary thought but I guess this has already happened whereby someone watches as they enter the pin and then someone else later pick pockets their bag, gets the card and then goes off to a cashpoint.

Scary, I'd rather pay cash these days.

Going to test it out tomorrow morning Mel. I am on tea duty for the cricket tomorrow so have to go to the supermarket early and I shall be taking Mrs Size's card to pay for it!!

Purely as an experiment you understand.......

It has happened already Inaiva. I remember reading an article where someone had watched a card holder put in their pin, then nicked their card and maxxed it out BUT because they had the pin number the back refused to accept that it was fraud and the person lost the lot! The bank said that she should have made sure that no-one could see her inputting the pin and therefore it was her fault.....
The banks/credit companies have pushed for this unsafe measure and then deny that it is flawed.....a way to get them out of footing the bill for the credit fraud that goes on...

On the subect of plastic cards, I had a card stolen once, I never reported it to the police though, as the thief was spending less than the wife (lol)

Hi
It's a very good point Size,you could put a white card into the chip and pin with the relevent magnetic strip and no one would notice.
I wonder if credit/debit card fraud has gone down since chip and pin ? Anyone know ?

Hi Andy

According to someone I know who is a director for a bank.

The biggest fraud happens on purchases over the internet but since chip and pin, the incidence of spending in shops with stolen cards has gone down, but there is a cloning problem, where the chip and pin number can be found out.

My own bank look out for unusual transactions and make contact if they suspect anything dodgy.

I did have my card cloned, I have no clue where, someone tried to buy over 3K's worth of goods from Comet, 6K in Argos over the internet. (how on earth would you spend that much at argos???) it didnt go through but they tried 6 times... the card was stopped and a new one issued. I knew nothing of this until the bank made contact and asked if it was me, apart from the card being declined in Tesco's for a small amount.

Hi

I gave my mate my debt card couple of months ago, she used it without a problem, Scary really, as if someone finds out your pin, or guesses it.

This paypass thing also scares me from Visa and Mastercard, whereby you just swipe your wallet past a reader and can spend upto £50 on the card, you could have anyones card on you.

Scary world! I liked the signing for transactions.