Can't get reloading supplies at Cabelas any longer

The biggest security feature of a credit card isn't a PIN or the Chip or the CCV or any of that. It's that it isn't your money being spent yet. If someone fraudulently starts using your credit card, you call the bank and they reverse the fraudulent charges on your account. You aren't out any money, your bank account isn't compromised. The only cost to you is the time it takes to call the bank.

All the chip and PIN and fancy security features are doing is decreasing the likelihood that you're going to have to deal with this minor inconvenience. So for my purpose I don't care if I have to enter my ZIP code or set up a four-digit PIN or sign my name or whatever. That's not the real security feature of a credit card.
 
Curmudgeon said:
You are spot on about the ID, I used to write "ask for ID" in the signature space on the card and maybe one in 20 clerks would actually do so.
Click to expand...

Interesting trivia: The USPS will not accept a card that says "SEE ID" on the back.

Stupid, I know. Stupid, the guy at the USPS who explained this to me knows. But there you have it.


INTERNET USE

The best suggestion I can make for using cards on the internet is to get yourself a card which you dedicate as you "Interned Card". Any other credit cards (or debit cards) you keep for usages other than the internet.

I have a credit card which I deliberately keep at a low credit limit ($600) specifically for use online. It's enough for anything I need to buy online.

If anybody steals the information, then they can only charge so much to it before it reaches its limit and the credit card company starts denying purchases.

It's an actual credit card, not a debit card, so I have the full protection that affords me especially with respect to disputes. And if the credit card company ever screws me over on a charge dispute, the credit limit is low enough that I can simply pay the card off, close the account, and get another credit card to replace it from another company.

It's a simple, elegant solution to provide you with the maximum protection when making online purchases.
 
I rarely spend cash anymore. If I get a coke at the gas station I'll use cash, but much of anything more than that goes on the debit card. I've never been particularly paranoid about the PIN. I'm not sure what the person standing behind me can do with a PIN without a card even if they wanted to try something
 
JohnFreeman said:
I've never been particularly paranoid about the PIN. I'm not sure what the person standing behind me can do with a PIN without a card even if they wanted to try something
Click to expand...
After you punch it in, and this goes for your zip code at gas stations too, place your hand on the buttons to touch them all. This messes up the heat signature that is left from punching the buttons. Otherwise someone eith an IR app on their phone can snap a picture of the keypad and know what buttons you pushed and probably in what order based on their temperature.
 
BTW, at least in some of the places in Europe I went they will bring the card reader to you, which has this almost 2" tall plastic wall on 3 sides of the keypad. And they are supposedly doing end-to-end-encryption. Wish they would do 6 digit pins here in the US...

On signatures, I sometimes sign with my other hand. Looks completely different but nobody cares.

Ammoparts.com said:
What's the flag say
Click to expand...
"Clean the dead bugs off your mustache"
 
As long as you have that Visa or Mastercard logo on the card you're protected. A quick phone call and it's fixed. This now applies for Debit and Credit cards

On a side note, I'd rather use my PIN on a transaction rather than swipe and sign as its more secure.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Jerzsubbie said:
I hate to break it to you but this is the way it will be EVERYWHERE in the near future. Europe and Canada uses pin & chip for credit almost everywhere.
Simply using your pin doesn't mean it's a debit transaction. PIN is just another level of security.
I first encountered this in Canada recently.
Click to expand...

The US is about the only country left that is not chip & pin as default. Chip & PIN is more secure (part of what I do for work). In most other places they hand you a wireless card reader, you insert your card, can cover up while entering the PIN and then it spits out the receipt. The salesperson never has to even SEE your card (and that is one way they still skim them then use the number for online purchases). In some US places now, if you card has a PIN assigned, you MUST use it, instead of the signature (which is not secure at all).
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
The USPS will not accept a card that says "SEE ID" on the back
Click to expand...

So I go into the Waxhaw post office and pay with a credit card. They stop me because the card isn't signed. I ask "what now" and the clerk says like I'm an idiot, "sign the card so we can complete the transaction."

I rolled my eyes and signed the card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom