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14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, OwensboroEPD looking into prepaid credit card theft

Jan 26th, 2012
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EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) –

Evansville Police are warning businesses about a theft at the checkout counter.

Police say a woman has stolen $400 from a local grocery store chain using prepaid credit cards.

Prepaid credit cards and gift cards are only worth the plastic if they're taken before the clerk activates it at the register. If they're taken after being scanned, the store can be out a whole lot more.

Evansville Police say four IGA stores in the Tri-State have fallen victim to the same theft.

Sergeant Jason Cullum with the EPD says the theft works the same way every time.

A woman selects groceries and then adds a prepaid credit card. After the clerk activates it, she quickly slips it in her purse and replaces it with an invalid card.

She then makes an excuse to leave the store without buying groceries, taking the activated card.

Cullum says the woman knew what she was doing all along.

“A lot of these people that run these scams, that's all they do and they're very good at what they do and it only takes them a second to do it.”

Debbie Moyer works at Grocery Outlet. She says prepaid cards are becoming more and more popular. She says at her grocery store, the clerk is very vigilant during the sale.

“They'll tell us the amount they want on it, and then we do the gift card activation on it, and we scan the card.”

Cullum says since they believe this is a repeat offender, they're hopeful they can track her.

Detectives say the suspect is a Hispanic female with brown hair and brown eyes, 25 to 35 years old, about 5'3″ and about 150 pounds.

Police have released surveillance pictures of the suspect and are asking for your help.

If you have any information on the suspect, you can contact the financial crimes division at the EPD.

Copyright 2012 WFIE. all rights reserved.

14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, OwensboroEPD looking into prepaid credit card theft

Plastic Surgery: Chase’s British Airways Card Gets EMV Chip Implant

Dec 18th, 2011
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International travel gets a little more beautiful.

Partnering with British Airways, Chase now offers its British Airways Visa card with an EMV chip. what does it mean? why does it matter? If you’re an international traveler, you’ll want to pay attention.

Pardon my ignorance; I’m American. What’s EMV?

When you use an American credit card, you (or the clerk) swipe it through a reader. The reader talks to the black magnetic strip, or “magstripe,” on the back of your card. The magstripe delivers the information that makes the transaction possible.

Obvious, right?

For Americans, sure. But throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and Canada, credit cards employ a different technology. instead of a magstripe, credit cards around the world possess a 3-5mm EMV (Europay-MasterCard-Visa) chip that delivers your account info through the contact pads on the back of the card. and so logically, merchants are equipped with terminals compatible with EMV chips—not magstripes.

Clearly, this gets be a rather bothersome for the American abroad. The incompatibility is particularly vexing at unmanned kiosks—train ticket terminals, gas stations and the like—where there is no one around to help.

Chase takes an obvious—but important—step forward

One bright and sunny morning, on its daily train ride into the city, Chase, sipping a latte macchiato and admiring its patent leather shoes, thought to itself, “Hm. perhaps an international credit card should function internationally.” and so the idea was hatched. Recognizing the limited acceptance of American credit cards outside the States, Chase wanted bring its customers greater convenience in their travels and expand the acceptance of Chase credit cards worldwide. The British Airways Visa kept its magstripe but was converted into a “chip-with-signature” card, taking it a step closer to universality.

As Naney Pandit, general manager of Chase services, states, “The addition of EMV chip-with-signature to the British Airways Visa Card offers cardmembers a higher level of convenience. Since most of our cardmembers frequently travel abroad, we want to provide them with benefits that make them feel right at home, no matter where they are. 

EMV vs magstripe

Why does the rest of the world prefer EMV to magstripe? and why does America cling to magstripe? for the same reasons the world prefers metric while America sticks to inches and miles. EMV might be a little better, but we’re pretty comfortable with magstripe, so we’d rather not change, thank you very much 

Both technologies are fairly secure, but EMV chips are a tad safer. Chips are encrypted to facilitate secure processing and safe data storage, making EMV cards difficult to copy. They’re (allegedly) better at preventing fraud.

The British Airways Visa is the first cobranded airline credit card equipped with an EMV chip to be issued in the US. It’s a decent travel card, though by no means the best. There’s currently no indication as to whether other airline cards will follow suit, but considering the competitive edge EMV can grant a travel credit card, copycats seem likely.

Tim Chen is the CEO of NerdWallet, a credit card and personal finance website that delivers thorough, quantitative analysis of financial products. He most recently reviewed the Chase Freedom Visa.

Plastic Surgery: Chase’s British Airways Card Gets EMV Chip Implant

KMPH FOX 26

Nov 7th, 2011
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FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) –- Nickels and dimes, pennies, and quarters, that's what many stores across the Valley charge you to pay with a credit card.

Although there's a law against it, they do it anyway.

“The crime that's being committed is a civil crime, it's against the code. And there is not an agency that is set up to enforce this code. And that's where the consumer has to advocate for themselves,” said Blair Looney, CEO of the Central California better Business Bureau.

We went to six different stores that our viewers told us about.

We bought stuff, paid with a credit card, paid fees ranging from a quarter to 75 cents, got a receipt that shows the fee, then we went in with our camera to confront the clerks.

Many of them claimed to be ignorant of the law.

“I don't know. my boss say, but I don't know,” said one clerk we confronted at Broadway Liquor on Shaw and Marty Avenues in Northwest Fresno.

When we asked, “Did you know that's against California law and against credit card agreements?”

He replied, “I don't know, I'm new here.”

Some clerks tried to justify the illegal fees.

“Every transaction costs like 63 cents, but we charging 55 cents. We're not saying $1 or $2,” said one manager.

A clerk at Palm Bluffs Liquor on Palm and Nees told us, “You know ma'am the bank charge us, so whenever you slide the card, the bank charge a price. That's why we charge you. the last month, the bank charged us $1,440 you know, it's too much for a month.”

We replied, “Well your agreement with the credit card company is the price of doing business with them, you're not supposed to pass that on to the customers.”

He said, “I know, but I asked my manager about that. Everybody ask me why you charge 50 cents. my manager told me, the bank charge us.”

One clerk at Johnny Quik Food Stores on Shaw and Brawley told us to leave the store after we confronted him.

And the manager at Evergreen Food Store on Clinton and Brawley did the right thing, only after he insisted the law did not exist.

Anyhow, he refunded me the 50 cents he charged me to use my credit card.

So what's a consumer to do if he or she wants to keep their change?

“The consumer has the right to stand up for themselves with the merchant. the civil code provides what the penalty is. they have the right to stand up with the credit card company, and tell the credit card company you've got a merchant out there that's in violation of their contractual obligation…and the third part is the consumer can walk, and go do business with someone who doesn't charge the fee,” said Looney.

Visa will back its cardholders.

It issued this statement:

“Visa does not allow merchants to charge consumers a fee for using a visa card because we do not believe that cardholders should be penalized for using their cards.”

They're telling people to call the number of the back of their cards to report the store name and location.

Visa could take action against the store.

But until consumers take action first, the credit card companies, the local District Attorney's Office, even the State Attorney General's Office won't go after the stores that are breaking the law.

“I don't believe consumers are aware that it is against the California Civil Code to do this. And so they figure it's a cost that businesses and it's being passed on to me, and I'm a consumer and I'm used to paying this,” said Looney.

The Fresno County D.A.'s Office says this practice is under investigation, but they need victims — people who've been charged credit card fees — to come forward.

The reality is, if we as consumers really want to fight these fees, we have to do the work, we have to file consumer complaints.

You can file with both the State Attorney General's office the Fresno County District Attorney's office.

Fresno County District Attorney's Office:  

http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/DepartmentPage.aspx?id=6040

California State Attorney General's Office: 

http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL

Government agencies are exempt from the credit card fee law and can legally charge the fees when payment is made with a credit card.

KMPH FOX 26

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