Merchant Newsletter - March 18, 2006

New Treo 650 Cables Available!


These updated cables are available FREE to our users!

 
We have been warning our users about debit cards for a while now.. and it finally happened!  Thieves hacked into a as-yet-unknown system (or systems), and made off with data stored on debit cards' magnetic stripes, the associated "PIN blocks," or encrypted PIN data, and the key for that encrypted data.

Banks like Citibank have had to block PIN transactions and reissue debit cards already. Some retailers improperly store PIN numbers after they've been entered, rather than erase them at the PIN-entering pad. Worse, the keys to decrypt the PIN blocks are often stored on the same network as the PINs themselves, making a single successful hack a potential goldmine for criminals: they get the PIN data and the key to read it.  The victim of the hack attack isn't yet known, although some banks have pointed fingers at OfficeMax, which has denied that its system was penetrated, as well as Sam's Club and other major retailers

The difference with fraud in dealing with debit cards is that the money stolen comes out of YOUR account, rather than an account owned by a bank or a credit card company. As a result, your bank may charge you overdraft charges if a criminal steals more money than you have. If you have outstanding checks, the bank may also return those checks and charge you another overdraft fee. In fact, if you have a lot of checks outstanding, your bank may charge you more in fees than was stolen by the criminals!  A thief with your PIN can make uncontested debit purchases or ATM cash withdrawals, and the bank assumes that you are responsible. Getting a PIN transaction reversed MAY be possible under some circumstances, but it will take a LONG time, and meanwhile- YOUR FUNDS ARE GONE. The advertisements stating that your check card is "protected"- DO NOT COVER PIN TRANSACTIONS!

A Consumer Affairs article notes that while Visa was quick to jump on CardSystems (a credit card processor) after its breach, it would NEVER stop taking transactions from a giant like Wal-Mart, and even may try to hide such an occurrence.  Our advice:  If you have a PIN-Debit card- Cancel it NOW! (Editors note: After this was written, 14 people have been arrested in the US in connection with this theft, but since the PIN Codes were used in Russia, the data has obviously not been recovered.)



The connector Palm selected for the Treo 650 prevents damage to the phone if the connector is twisted ( a big problem with 300 and 600 models), but really made for a poor connection, and caused us no end of grief.

The problem was caused by the fact that there were only two small clips that were holding the connector inside the phone,  while 16 spring loaded pins were working together to push the connector right out of the phone!  

Since we only use two pins of that connector (one for Swiping, one for printing), we removed the other pins, and the result was that there was 90% less force pushing the connector out!  This made for a much, much more reliable connector, and solved our user's problems.


The new cable is easily identified
as it has only 2 pins in the data area.

Replacement cables for our users are ABSOLUTELY FREE! Users of the Pocket Merchant with a TREO 650 can simply click here to have their free cable sent to them.  This offer is for all MerchantAnywhere.com merchants, including our friends using the MAC Tools Mobile Merchant system.  This new cable eliminates the problem that Treo 650 users have had with the cable! 

These cables will be sent USPS (Postal mail) or UPS so allow 3 to 5 days for delivery.  This is actually the few times that we ship using anything but UPS, but make sure you give us a UPS deliverable address (NO PO BOXES)



There are credit cards for Disney fans, Seniors, Travelers, even Star Trek fans, but a card that earns you Plastic Surgery?  Yes, www.plasticassets.com is even offering free lip injections for each friend that gets referred by a cardholder!  They label their credit options "B", "C", "D" and "DD".  Sheesh, what will they have next, a card that earns Viagra tablets while you spend?  Now instead of miles, you can get implants!

ORDER FREE MERCHANT MATERIALS HERE!!!

Copyright (c) 2004 Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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