asked by an online store to take a photo of my debit card

scoped1

hi there

I was asked by a store to take a photo of my debit card that showed my name and the last 4 numbers of my card -
the email said

In order for us to process your order, please kindly submit the front (scanned image or a photo) of your credit card, with the card owner name and the last 4 digits of the card number clearly showing. For your own protection, please be sure to cross out the first 3 sets of numbers on your credit card before emailing it to us.

Once we have verified your card information, we will process your order as soon as possible.

Please be advised that once we have verified your payment; for security purposes, the credit card information which you have attached in the previous email will be deleted.

now this seems dodgy - so i cancelled the order and asked for a refund

anyway they've told me that it'll take 4-6 weeks to refund,
i was wondering if this is a normal amount of time it takes to refund -
and whether there's anything i should do in the mean time?

visidigi

its not dodgy = it sounds like them taking one more additional step to avoid fraud - I had to do this when ordering from the US - it seems to be a common process over there.

Give all transactions on reciepts have all numbers but the last four starred out you aren't giving out much more than nearly every receiptt for a CC or debit transaction...

As for the refund - its usually 30 days or less - the law for UK states in a reasonable amount of time.

Techhead_2

You'll already have given them your card number, expiry date cvv2 etc in order to chargethe account?
In my experience, its normal for overseas based retailers to want an obscured copy of the card. Card procedures are different elsewhere and this proves you have the card and not just bought the details from a hacker site.

halibut2209

I think it's dodgier that they took payment before asking for the photo. How does that help fraud?????

visidigi

if it is a US site, the ones that have done this to me do it for the first time you use that card - once they have validated it with the photo etc they then clear that card for future use - so its actually only after you put the order through that it goes for verification and gets bypass if its been authorised before.

Naf

But it's illegal to take a copy of your debit card (as far as I have been told working with ID procedures in various sales environments), surely this can't be right?! Just because it's 'normal practise' doesn't mean it's OK.
Granted you have already given them all the necessary details to take whatever transaction they want anyway...

NoSatisfaction

Naf wrote: »

But it's illegal to take a copy of your debit card (as far as I have been told working with ID procedures in various sales environments), surely this can't be right?! Just because it's 'normal practise' doesn't mean it's OK.
Granted you have already given them all the necessary details to take whatever transaction they want anyway...

Of course its not!

It may be reckless but its no different from the bad old days when shops used to take a carbon copy of it.

Naf

NoSatisfaction wrote: »

Of course its not!

It may be reckless but its no different from the bad old days when shops used to take a carbon copy of it.

I did always wonder, both because of the carbon copies, and because, well, what difference does it make lol.

shayne_2

visidigi wrote: »

if it is a US site, the ones that have done this to me do it for the first time you use that card - once they have validated it with the photo etc they then clear that card for future use - so its actually only after you put the order through that it goes for verification and gets bypass if its been authorised before.

I hate buying anything on line because don't want a credit card so use debit card, i do buy online & the sites always ask for my card details & secure pass word, the thing is i bought twice from Amazon & second time i did'nt need to give card details because they already kept them, i don't like my details being kept on record & they should not be allowed to do this

shaun_from_Africa

You can go into your Amazon account and delete the stored card information.
Even though you don't want a credit card, these do offer you more in the way of consumer protection than a debit card does, especially if your purchased item costs more than £100.

Another problem with using a debit card is that if it is used fraudulently, the fraudster may well be able to empty your current account before you realise that anything dodgy has happened.
You should eventually get your money returned, but this may take quite a while and leave you with little or no money in the meantime.

texranger

scoped1 wrote: »

hi there

I was asked by a store to take a photo of my debit card that showed my name and the last 4 numbers of my card -
the email said

now this seems dodgy - so i cancelled the order and asked for a refund

anyway they've told me that it'll take 4-6 weeks to refund,
i was wondering if this is a normal amount of time it takes to refund -
and whether there's anything i should do in the mean time?

email is not a secure medium, so i would never send anything like this via standard email.