Clever credit/debit card scam

Heinz

OK, this was probably a genuine error - but it's worth a 'heads up' anyway IMHO.

Buy something and offer to pay by card (in my case it was a meal in a restaurant) and the assistant/waiter/whoever presents you with the machine (in restaurants it's frequently a cordless one these days) into which you put your card, they enter the transaction amount, you check it, enter your PIN and then press enter.

The transaction appears to fail and it's then 'discovered' that the machine had no paper roll in it. Profuse apologies and they remove your card and hand it back to you while they go away to load a new paper roll into the machine.

They then return, enter the transaction details again and ask you to enter your PIN again. Most of us would query this (you've already entered your PIN for the transaction) and I certainly did but was assured that, because there was no paper in the machine, the transaction failed and this won't be a duplicate.

WRONG! It is a duplicate.

The fact that there was no paper in the device on the first occasion does not affect the (electronic) completion of the transaction and, to rectify the situation, the staff should merely have loaded a new roll of paper and printed out the required number of copies of the last (i.e. the original) transaction.

Luckily, I was wary and kept an eye online on my credit card transactions daily - until TWO identical transactions for the cost of that meal showed up.

In my case, a phone call to the restaurant had them back-pedalling violently and offering to run a credit through their machine if I just gave them my credit card details over the phone.

Once bitten. No, send me a cheque. This is my address (they did).

Don't fall for it people.

Butlers1982

I think that was just a mistake

The waiter/ess doesnt get anyting out of this themselves by doing it.

Althought the restaurant get "paid" twice- the waiter/ess doesnt actually steal your card details and use them

I understand what your saying but have to agree it probably was just a mistake, but one worth mentioning.

Over the last 12 months ive gone really sceptical when using my card, Eg last week in carphone warehouse, the machine "jammed" and i was told i would have to swipe the card, as " my banks system is too advance for CPW's"

Needless to say, i check my account daily online!

robert_harper_2000

Why wouldn't the machine work as it didn't have paper. I would have asked for a duplicate copy which all the machines can do, printing the last transaction
Although may spoil the meal atmos! Just always pay with Credit card then chargebacks will protect you

RadoJo

If a transaction fails, there should be a record of that - as a previous poster said, lack of paper doesn't mean that the transaction hasn't processed, and when paper is loaded, the machines tend to print off anything which hadn't already been printed anyway.

uktim29

Yes, it's a mistake not a scam.

chris_spackman

The member of staff offers you to pay on the machine with no paper and goes and gets another one with paper. The first machine belongs to the crook and the second to the bar/shop etc. Also NEVER letth staff take your card as this gives them time to do their nasty deeds. Not saying they are all like it but it happens.