If you like in the UK or Northern Ireland, you’re probably finding that, instead of writing your signature, you are being asked to enter your PIN on a little keypad when you use your debit or credit card to make purchases.<\/p>\n
Now, please forgive me if I’m way off the mark, but how is this supposed to increase security? Seems to me that we have simply replaced one flawed system for another.<\/p>\n
Flawed? How so? Well, in "the old days" scammers used to run your card through a magnetic strip reader and they could create "cloned" copies of your card. The data would be written onto a fresh, blank card and they could sign the back whatever way they wanted. The criminal would then go use your card in a store to pay for goods and the signature would be good. And you are out of pocket.<\/p>\n
Now, they are asking you to enter your pin. Excellent – now they also have your PIN number – how they get it via electronic interception between the keypad and the device, over the wire, or by "shoulder surfing" – doesn’t matter. Joe Crim now has your pin. They also have a swipe of your card (all the shops I’ve used my card in so far with "chip & pin" have both swiped it and put it into the pin keypad). So, not only can they burn the magstripe onto a fresh card and use it, they can pop it into an ATM and withdraw cash directly from the account with my PIN.<\/p>\n
Lovely, who comes up with these ideas?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you like in the UK or Northern Ireland, you’re probably finding that, instead of writing your signature, you are being asked to enter your PIN on a little keypad when you use your debit or credit card to make purchases. Now, please forgive me if I’m way off the mark, but how is this … <\/p>\n