Signature for using Amex?

philip1427

Hi I was in my local BP garage this evening getting some fuel. For the first time ever I was asked to sign for my purchases. I didn't realise this was possible with a UK card as we have chip and pin! It doesn't seem very secure.

It this normal or should I phone Amex?

[Deleted User]

It's not normal but not unusual.

stevenhp1987

philip1427 wrote: »

Hi I was in my local BP garage this evening getting some fuel. For the first time ever I was asked to sign for my purchases. I didn't realise this was possible with a UK card as we have chip and pin! It doesn't seem very secure.

It this normal or should I phone Amex?

Every once in a while this happens. It's rare, but it happens.

I've signed for maybe 2 or 3 transactions here in the UK last year (infact, I had to sign for one last week - using a Visa).

Signing for transactions isn't 100% dead yet.

Technically not as secure as chip & pin, but it's the merchant's choice...

sausage_time

Odd, I had this yesterday in an Esso garage with Amex! First time in years.

chattychappy

I would be VERY CAREFUL when asked for a signature to check my statement. Be sure to keep your receipt.

In the unlikely event you are asked to fill in a manually produced imprinter voucher, I would refuse. (Doubt if they are around in the UK, but they are still used abroad in poorer countries without reliable connections.) But if you MUST fill one in, cross through unused boxes and again, be sure to keep your copy.

20aday

chattychappy wrote: »

I would be VERY CAREFUL when asked for a signature to check my statement. Be sure to keep your receipt.

In the unlikely event you are asked to fill in a manually produced imprinter voucher, I would refuse. (Doubt if they are around in the UK, but they are still used abroad in poorer countries without reliable connections.) But if you MUST fill one in, cross through unused boxes and again, be sure to keep your copy.

I used to work in a petrol station up until a couple of years ago; they were an independent business and sometimes their merchant acquirer would go down and/or the ADSL line.

It might not be the case any longer but before I'd left we had to revert to the manual imprint machine.

Never do I want to hear Ross King saying "Welcome to American Express" ever again :rotfl: (when calling up for authorisation)!

System

I had to sign for a Mastercard transaction last week in Waitrose.
It happens occasionally!

bris

The chip and pin function goes down once in a while so it happens. The downside for the retailer is there is no defence from a chargeback.

seatbeltnoob

chattychappy wrote: »

I would be VERY CAREFUL when asked for a signature to check my statement. Be sure to keep your receipt.

In the unlikely event you are asked to fill in a manually produced imprinter voucher, I would refuse. (Doubt if they are around in the UK, but they are still used abroad in poorer countries without reliable connections.) But if you MUST fill one in, cross through unused boxes and again, be sure to keep your copy.

IMHO this sort of scam is very rare, the voucher would make the store complicit in the scam as any proceeds get processed into the stores accounts and not the individual scammer.

A scammer would typically want to skim your card details somehow, in order to clone your card and take money from your account they'd want your pin over a signature any day.

A chip and pin is actually much more dangerous and prone to scams then a manual transaction run by signature. The risk you highlight is limited to that specific store and store owners wont do this sort of scam

Fraudulent transactions run by a shopkeeper on their tills is extremely risky. Business owner can get their account terminated and a black mark put on their name and business making it impossible for their business to ever process cards again. The risk is too high for this.

Scammers want your card details and pin so they can just clone your card and put it inside an ATM to get money out from anywhere.

chattychappy

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

IMHO this sort of scam is very rare, the voucher would make the store complicit in the scam

Indeed. But it happened to my friend in Vietnam. $100 became $1100 (or something like that - he lost US$1000). The CC wouldn't do anything without the top copy which he binned. They faxed through the merchant copy. It looked pretty obvious to me that the 1 had been added (it was a different style to the 1 already there) and circumstantial evidence supported my friend. Such a bad memory for him, he just didn't want to take it any further.

I agree: less likely to happen in a "mainstream" shop. More likely to happen in countries where imprinters are common and tourists are passing through. Also when thinking about frauds/scams, from a cardholder's point of view there are some where you are more likely to be held liable (eg cardholder present, as in my example) and some where the bank/merchant is more likely to be on the hook.