Data Theft and Prevention

Unfortunately, identity theft can happen any time of year, to anyone.  At Humboldt Merchant Services, we work diligently with each and every one of our merchant services clients to do whatever we can to help reduce the risk of data or identity theft.  With that said, there are a number of additional procedures that consumers can look for to further reduce the risk.

Most people fail to realize that there are always a set of eyes watching our every move, and we need to look into protecting ourselves and our private information. So practicing common sense procedures like covering your PIN number when you enter it during a debit card transaction can help reduce skimming.

Skimming is the theft of credit card information used in an otherwise legitimate transaction and can happen to anyone. It is typically an “inside job” by a dishonest employee of a legitimate merchant. The most common scenarios for skimming occur in restaurants or bars where the skimmer has possession of the consumer’s credit card out of their immediate view.

Here are a few things to do to avoid getting “skimmed”:

• Be sure to make eye contact with your waiter or waitress as they take your credit card
• Pay attention to how they “run” your card through.
• Check your credit card statements closely each month.

While doing these things will not completely eliminate the risk of skimming or other credit card fraud, they will help.