The credit card seems to be one of the most popular ways to make any kind of payment; it is easier to purchase goods or pay taxes or bills using it. The credit card owner has user friendly accessible credit but he also has the ability to keep track of his expenses. And who doesn't need to check the personal expenditures or track the expenses for taxes and reimbursements?
The credit limits are different worldwide; there is also a large variety of repayment possibilities, such as the automatic payment from the owner's bank account or many other perks. There are rewards schemes to earn points when the cardholder purchases goods. In the United States, United Kingdom or France, the amount for which the consumer is liable is limited. This is the consequence of some fraudulent transactions made when the owner's credit card was stolen or lost.
The great disadvantage of the credit cards is their low security. This low security opens many opportunities to different kinds of fraud. There is a real market in credit card numbers being stolen. They are used shortly after the credit cards are reported as stolen. It is impossible to eliminate the fraud possibilities for the credit cards, and all the efforts are made to reduce the consequences.
Many frauds are made through the Internet. The credit cards number is taken from retailers, offline or online. Company databases are also a great source of credit cards numbers. If a cracker manages to read these databases, the fraud is inevitable.
But where is the real source of fraud possibilities? It seems like the poor implementation of the credit cards acquisition is the most important. The websites are using SSL, encrypting the credit cards numbers. But somewhere, there is a person who is introducing all these credit cards numbers manually. There are credit card numbers that are human readable and this is the major security risk. The systems such as Clear Commerce are solving this problem. Encrypted credit cards numbers are sent directly to the payment system.
In the United Stated, the FBI is responsible for the prosecuting those who are making credit cards frauds. Therefore, it is really difficult to pursue those criminals. The target is formed by those who are guilty to fraud more than $5000. The newest credit cards features made to improve their security are important, but the frauds number is still important. These features are the PIN, the new credit cards material and the new number on the back of the credit card. The four digits PIN (Personal Identification Number) is known only by the cardholder. The cards are made using a special material, which makes the fraud more difficult. Many credit cards have now another three or four digits number on their back. This new number is used in the transaction of type card not present.
A successful way to prevent the frauds is the use of the one time disposable credit card numbers. These numbers are generated for each transaction. These numbers can also include custom limits for the transaction amount. The most important feature seems to be the short term expiration date. Many reputable online vendors are advising their clients to subscript to renew the credit cards numbers and support the necessary charges. One time single use numbers are the best solution to avoid frauds and give the customers to have the entire control on their transactions.
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