Merchant Newsletter - February 4, 2006

Visa Cards to get a new face in 2006!


Visa's new card has new security features - KNOW THEM!

There are a number of ways for scammers to get money out of your bank account. One recent way is after the scammers get your bank account number (perhaps by stealing a check or a statement, or simply by having you write them a check), they can create unauthorized demand drafts.

Demand drafts are usually used to allow firms to make withdrawals from your account without you having to write a check each time. However, scammers are now creating phony demand drafts and using them to take money out of innocent people's bank accounts.

Another method scammers are using to steal money from bank accounts is to print fraudulent checks based on the information on your check. Desktop publishing makes this quite easy. Remember, these guys can make Postal money orders and travellers checks that can fool the bank, one of your personal checks is a piece of cake.

Keep your checks in a safe spot. Be very careful whom you write a check to -- once you've written someone a check, they then have all of your bank account information (except your password). Carefully review your bank statement regularly for unauthorized checks and transfers.

Remember, all a fraudster needs to take money out of your checking account is the account number, and the routing number of your bank (which is publicly available).  Those of you who use ACH to accept funds from customers know exactly how very very easy this is to do, even without printing a check!



The major new security feature is the animated holographic magnetic strip [1].  The doves will animate in multiple colors, the black dot in the middle will move, and a ring will appear around the sun when the card is moved from side to side.  You get all these nifty effects even if you are not currently on medication!

The signature panel will [2] display "void"  if any attempt is made to alter the signature.  Unchanged is the first digit (4) common to all visa cards [3], and the first 4 digits are printed below it [4].

The expiration date [5] is unchanged, but the new Visa logo [6] is in the lower right hand corner on a white background box.  The most useful feature is that the CVV2 (Card Verification Value) [7] is now printed outside the signature box where it will not be overwritten or obscured by the signature.

This last item will help eventually solve the biggest excuse for a customer not having CVV2 available: being obscured by the signature, or worn off.



A poll of Americans aged 18–34 found only 9 percent believe that Social Security will have the money to provide them their retirement benefits, but 46 percent believe in UFOs.  ...Welcome to Earth. Did you bring any credit cards?

You wrote your PIN WHERE? Karen Smith of Portland, Ore., got a call from her credit union: you’re overdrawn by $346,000, they told her. Thieves had stolen her ATM card and made 724 withdrawals totaling $346,770 from 48 cash machines over a 54-hour period, making nearly a million dollars in false deposits to cover their cash withdrawals. Software that is supposed to limit ATM withdrawals was not working, so the culprits were able to get another stack of cash as fast as they could reinsert the card. “From time to time, they were considerate enough to let a real customer in,” a police detective noted. Five suspects have been arrested and charged with “unauthorized use of an access device”, a federal offense. Smith had written the card’s PIN number on another card in her wallet. (AP)

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