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Retailers need to step up security

Retailers need to become more vigilant about checking customers credit card signatures before accepting the purchase as they are ultimately responsible if the card has been stolen, information security provider Clear Swift says.Identity theft – such

Kelly Gregor
Wed, 11 Jul 2018

Retailers need to become more vigilant about checking customers credit card signatures before accepting the purchase as they are ultimately responsible if the card has been stolen, information security provider Clear Swift says.

Identity theft – such as name, date of birth, address, telephone, bank and credit card number details – are in hot demand. Credit cards can easily be compromised online but checking a signature from an item is purchased from a store should be mandatory.

“It’s not though. The other day, a retailer asked to see my signature. It was scratched, so he asked me for another form of identification. This is what he should have done but this is becoming increasingly rare,” Clear Swift managing director Peter Croft said.

Mr Croft said banks wanted retailers to retailers to check signatures because if an item appears on a consumer’s statement that is disputed they simply won’t pay the merchant (the retailer).

“It is the retailer that misses out (if a purchase has been processed by a stolen credit card) not the bank and not the consumer."

Mr Croft said a lot of personal information was given away because security measures were not followed. People can call up call centres pretending to be someone they are not, they have one form of identification, such as a birth date but this is not enough information for a password to be reset.

The web has opened up enormous opportunities for businesses but it has also brought with it challenges in keeping customer information confidential. Mr Croft said many businesses were now using White Hats – legitimate professionals who are hired to hack into banking systems and other sites that contain confidential intelligence – to measure the effectiveness of its security system.

Stolen credit card details will fetch about $US50 – US$60 on the black market. Online shopping is much harder to police than actual purchases made in stores as signatures and other identification measures can be enforced.

“The simple thing to do it stick to a policy, enforce good workable measures against identity theft and who can access what information and what can be viewed by certain people.

“Spread sheets containing payroll information should never be emailed. Data containing customer information should also never be emailed. Businesses need to switch on detection policies. If you have a great policy make sure it is backed up. This affects the value of the company and how it compete,” Mr Croft said.

Kelly Gregor
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
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Retailers need to step up security
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