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of dollars in fraudulent charges, low-level
fraudsters target restaurants and bars for
a quick win. Whether it's just a $50 dinner
and drinks, a gift-card purchase or a college
student picking up the beer tab for friends,
on-site restaurants and bars are low-risk
targets for criminals because law enforcement
generally does not assist with recouping such
relatively small losses. As we well know,
however, these small losses add up.
Protect yourself
College and university towns, large cities,
and major metropolitan areas are the most
vulnerable, but credit card fraud can happen
anywhere. The best defense against credit
card fraud is to install EMV chip reader
terminals as soon as possible. If that simply
isn't an option, here are a few additional tips
you can use to protect your business.
•
Verify the last four digits of the card number
match the last four digits on the printed
receipt
•
Compare the signatures on the card and
receipt
•
Check cards for legitimate features like
holograms, logos, CVV/CID/CVV2 and AVS
verification.
•
Never rerun a card if it declines – for any
reason.
Georgia Stavrakis is the senior director of loss
prevention at Heartland Payment Systems.
