By John Campbell
With debit cards, your personal identification number (PIN) has been long regarded as the surest way to protect your bank accounts if your debit card is stolen. We were told that if nobody sees us enter our PINs our accounts would be protected.
This is no longer true.
Unfortunately, whether or not your PIN is truly safe will be determined by the software written for a particular brand of point-of-sale processing equipment. Ideally, you’ll swipe your debit card, type in your PIN and whatever machine is processing your information will delete the information once the sale is complete. Software for some of these machines actually encrypt your data and store it on whatever computer network the place you do business with uses. A dishonest employee with access to the network’s decryption keys or a determined hacker could potentially tap into the network and retrieve all of your debit card information, including PINs.
Of course, finding out what businesses know what steps to take to protect your vital information may be easier said than done. Ask any cashier what happens to your debit card data after you enter it into a PIN pad and you may be met with a blank stare. Finding out if a particular business’s computer network is safe may also be an equally challenging task. When in doubt, don’t use the PIN pad on a point-of-sale machine.
Most point-of-sale machines should have no problem processing a debit card transaction as a credit card transaction. Instead of entering your PIN, you’ll have to sign a standard credit card receipt. Your debit may be listed as pending for one business day and you won’t be able to get cash back on the spot, but you won’t have to worry about your PIN falling into the wrong hands. The more times you can avoid using your PIN, the less chance your PIN will be floating around in cyberspace just waiting to be stolen.
The true extent of PIN theft at this point is unclear. Many businesses likely avoid going public with information on consumer data theft as long as possible. Such revelations can be very bad for business. With high tech fraud a growing worldwide concern, you would be wise to plan ahead. Using your PIN only when absolutely necessary may go a long way towards combating this type of fraud that could potentially become much more prevalent in the future.
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John Campbell is the writer and editor of CashBuzz, A financial portal for the rest of us. Check out cashbuzz.com for the latest articles on money management and tips and tricks that can help improve your finances. This article may be reprinted on your Web site if the copyright, author information and active link are included.
