What steps can I take to keep my card secure?

Security begins with the account holder. Below are some simple steps you can take to maintain the integrity of your account.

The most likely ways of having ones credit card number compromised or stolen would be:

Phishing. A virus embedded on the card holders PC would send card information to fraudsters who would on sell the card data. In this case there is little the bank or PSP can do, it is up to the cardholder to make sure that any PC used to perform online transactions is virus free.

Online. Using your credit card online , if one uses a website that isn’t secure it is easy to access customer’s credit card numbers. Sites with verified secured connections and updated SSL certificates (i.e. the lock icon on the payment page). It may happen that a phishing virus be embedded on the merchant’s  website unawares. The cardholders bank would need to investigate what site the card was used on and if they were secure and Merchants need to make sure their sites are virus free.

ATM. One’s credit card data can be retrieved by means of skimmers attached to ATMs that can read and capture the information on the magnetic strip of the card. Hidden cameras can be installed on ATMs so they can see the pin number. Fake cards can be manufactured to gain access accounts. This would be difficult to investigate however would lie with the cardholders bank.

MOTO. It is very easy to have ones credit card details stolen when purchasing good via the telephone and unscrupulous operators could capture the card details and on sell the information. The cardholders bank would need to investigate and check if the card was used in a MOTO environment.

Credit card machines at retail stores. Skimmers can be attached to POS terminals similar to how data is gained via ATM’s and would have to be investigated by the card issuing bank.

PSP’s and Banks with inadequate security.  Merchants could use a PSP that is not PCI DSS certified and hence open themselves to be breached. Adumo Online is PCI DSS compliant and have all the required systems and processes in place to protect our environment from fraud and hence highly unlikely that any card information was gained from the Adumo Online environment, however if we receive any reports from our merchants, whose  clients report fraudulent use of their credit cards we would investigate.

If you suspect that your card details have been compromised you would need to report it to your bank who would initiate an investigation.