As fast you can swipe a debit card, you can become a victim of skimming.
With millions of electronic dollars stolen each day in Canada, Western’s Bank Card Committee, along with Campus Community Police Service (CCPS), has taken steps to ensure dozens of ‘point of sale’ locations across campus will not be compromised and the information they gather remains secure.
“You can be confident when you’re using a point of sale machine at Western you are doing so with confidence and security,” says CCPS Special Constable Justin Sisco, who worked to create a point of purchase integrity checklist now being implemented at some campus locations, such as The Wave.
Food and beverage manager Jeff Armour says he likes the simplicity of the checklist and appreciates ensuring customer information is protected.
“Our managers have a number of opening and closing duties already, so we were able to fit it in right away,” says Armour.”It has simply been incorporated into their regulars duties.”
As part of a learning series, the Bank Card Committee held two point of sale security workshops, including one Thursday.
London Police Detective Sergeant Stuart Ewing (Fraud Division) shared stories of the ease with which criminals skim information from unwary shoppers, including an example from Brantford.
Suspects paid a Taco Bell employee $500 to put a skimming device on a debit machine. Within three months crooks made almost $500,000 through fake debit and credit cards. The employee got caught as he was the only one of 18 employees who didn’t swipe a card during the period. No one else was arrested.
“It only takes seconds for someone to make a switch (debit machines). You need to protect it like it’s cash sitting on your counter,” says Ewing. “These daily checks, which also take only seconds, can end up saving you a lot of money.”
Debit card fraud has grown tremendously. In 2003, $44 million was reported stolen in Canada. By 2007 that amount had jumped to $107 million. The number of victims climbed to 159,000 from 29,000.
Merchants should check daily to see that machines have not been tampered with, perform employee background checks, share information among stores and provide employee education.
Credit card companies and banks are working to stay ahead of criminals.
Canada’s payments association Interac has begun the national roll out of Chip and PIN debit cards, which could end skimming.
Integration of the cards is expected to take a number of years – with 2015 set for full implementation.
However, chip cards will continue to carry the magnetic stripe to allow cardholders to use debit cards in countries that do not use chip technology, such as the U.S.
For more information about the Bank Card Committee, visit https://commerce.uwo.ca.