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InComm Teams Up with Retailers to Fight Fraud
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How to Fight It: Again, store clerks are the first defense. By visually inspecting each prepaid card package sold, clerks can catch many instances of tampering.
Train clerks to notice if:
• The edges and seals of the package are intact and don’t appear worn.
• If there’s a barcode, is it in the expected position on the pack- aging? Does it appear to be affixed over another barcode?
• The control number displayed through the aperture on the back of the card pack matches the control number on the receipt.
If clerks suspect tampering, they should feel empowered to instruct consumers to choose another card package and inform management for further investigation.
“Fraud is a controllable expense, and the degree to which
you control fraud enables you to be more competitive and profitable.”
—Skeet Rolling, ITC Financial Licenses Inc.
to check for discrepancies.
Other defenses include sound internal procedures for reducing shrinkage, such as having clerks enter ID numbers into POS termi- nals when working the register, and maintaining the store’s closed-circuit television to mon- itor for suspicious activity or to confirm misconduct.
4 Victim-Assisted Fraud
The Setup: Victim-assisted scams tend to target the elderly, financially desperate people or concerned family members. For example:
• An elderly person, perhaps a widowed grandmother, is instructed by phone to use a prepaid product to pay for emergency medical care for a loved one.
• A long-term unemployed per- son receives an official looking letter, announcing that he’s won the Jamaican lottery; all he has to do is to remit a $300 prepaid card to pay the taxes.
• A financially desperate person receives an email from a self- proclaimed Nigerian government official asking for help to trans- fer money out of the country and offering to share the money with the victim.
The Problem: Desperate, lonely and financially unsophisticated people are easy prey. With mini- mum personal knowledge about the mark, a fraudster can exploit the desperation or fears of a vulnerable population, enriching himself and leaving his victims empty-handed.
How to Fight It: Consumer aware- ness is the key, because it’s im- possible to protect all vulnerable people from scams; fraudsters appeal to their targets’ emotions, clouding rational thinking. But,
Employee
Fraud
The Setup: Although store clerks are the first line of defense in preventing fraud, some may be complicit in card fraud and theft.
The Problem: Employees under- stand how prepaid product activa- tion works, have access to cards and the means to activate them.
How to Fight It: Retailers must reconcile the prepaid category and their registers at least daily
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