take out a newspaper ad advertising your credit to the world.
BEWARE HELPFUL HANK
There are innumerable dodges credit card thieves use to get hold of valid credit card numbers. To try to stamp out fraud, credit card issuers stopped using carbons of card imprints a few years ago, because people would leave these carbons behind, or toss them intact into the garbage, and crooks would get the account numbers off them. Thieves called these carbons "black gold." But other techniques have been developed to pick up the slack. One familiar approach is to dupe a merchant into giving you a number. That might sound like a lot to ask for. It isn't. What a criminal will do is call up a small local business - a gas station, a pet store, a florist - anyplace that does steady credit card business. He hopes to get a gullible clerk, and he usually will.
"Hello, this is Joe from MasterCard," he'll say. "I'm returning your call."
"What call?"
"I just got word that there was a problem with your verification machine. Are you encountering any difficulties with it?"
"Uh, no, not that I'm aware of."
"Well, you know what happens is, when something goes amiss on a transaction, the machine will automatically send out a signal to our central processor indicating that there's a problem. That must have been what went on here. Did you just do a transaction?"
"Yeah, maybe five minutes ago."
"Good, that must be the one. Let's check that transaction. What was the card number?"
He'll read off the card number from the store's receipt.
"Now, what's the expiration date?"
He'll read that off.
Just to keep the ruse sounding good, the crook will ask for the amount of the purchase, although that doesn't interest him. He's already got all that he needs.
Crooks usually pull these little capers in the evening, when there are always a lot of transactions and when the manager has gone home. Managers are a lot less likely to fall for this routine than a clerk, but you'd be surprised how often a manager will bite, too.
WHAT TO DO
It can be that easy. And it can be just as easy to avoid that ever happening. All you have to do is teach your employees that if they ever get a call purporting to be from a credit card company, tell them you'll call them right back. Then make sure that's where they're from. Don't take someone's word on the phone for who they are. Often, it's a con artist, and you know how good his word is.
And when you've handed your card to a salesclerk to make a purchase, take the time to examine it when you get it back. The vast majority of the time, you get the same card back. But not always. Dishonest salesclerks will pocket your card and hand you a fake or expired card, the old "bait and switch" scam, because they know most people will put the card back in their purse or wallet without even glancing at it.
Have you ever gotten home and received a phone call from someone who tells you he found your wallet at the store you just came from and he'll put it in the mail to you that afternoon? You check, he's right, and you're immensely relieved that your wallet was found by such an upright citizen.
You shouldn't be. Too often, the guy who stole it out of your purse is the one who's calling, and with that telephone call he's buying himself time. Now, because he's called to tell you he's sending you the wallet, you don't contact your credit card companies and cancel the cards and he's got an extra day or two to use them. Never delay in reporting a credit card lost or stolen, or the next pickpocket will take a vacation on you.
SO THAT'S WHAT HIGHER MATH WAS FOR
The number of people who potentially have access to your credit card or credit card number can be mind-boggling. For instance, the job of a worker for Northwest Airlines was to load and unload mail on Northwest flights arriving and departing from Metro Airport in Detroit. He would transport the mail back and forth between the planes and the airport's postal facility. Not all of the mail made the flights. He would make a point of stealing a certain amount of letters and rummaging through them for credit cards or credit card numbers. He shared his bounty with some associates, who used the cards to purchase merchandise. When he was caught,