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How To Deter Credit Card Fraud By Your Employees

What Is Credit Card Fraud?

Credit card fraud is a term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. Examples of credit card fraud:

• A manager of a small bakery documents the customer’s credit-card numbers and expiration dates when customers pay for their purchases. The manager then makes online purchases using the credit-card numbers.
• An employee pockets cash payments from various customers and charges their purchases to a different customer’s credit card. The credit-card customer is charged twice to cover the price of the cash customer. Thieves who use this method attempt to cover their tracks by stealing cash instead of making purchases with the stolen credit card.
• Credit card skimming is one of the newest types of credit-card theft. An employee swipes credit cards through an unauthorized magnetic card reader that records the data on the card. The data then is copied onto counterfeit credit cards or sold to other thieves.

The Reasons For Credit Card Fraud By Employees

The two main uses of stolen credit card information are the use of the credit card numbers to make purchases and the selling of credit card numbers. Credit card fraud at the hands of employees happen due to the easy access that many businesses have to credit cards. The places most often hit by credit card by employees are restaurants, gas stores, retail stores and really just about any place that accepts plastic.

As more and more consumers are going cashless, the opportunity for fraud by unethical employees will continue to climb. The way employers will deal with credit card fraud by employees will be to use preventative measures.

One of the best deterrents to credit card fraud by employees is to check the trustworthiness of prospective employees through a pre-employment background and criminal records search by an experienced professional firm such as Accu-Screen, Inc. With 14 years of experience conducting pre-employment background and criminal records screenings, Accu-Screen, Inc. is an excellent resource in the fight against credit card fraud.

Additional ways to deter credit card fraud by employees:

• Make sure all monies balance
• If you suspect a problem, get to the root of it; move the suspect employee to another shift with different coworkers
• Restrict employee access to customer’s personal information
• Dispose of customer’s personal information with crosscutting shredders
• Limit staff with access to personal information
• Use credit-card machines that print only the last five digits of credit-card numbers on receipts (most older machines can be programmed to do the same)
• Only hire temporary workers that have had a background screening and closely manage their activities

Create a positive environment

Create a caring, positive culture in the workplace. Research indicates that one of the most effective theft deterrents is to treat employees well. Businesses that establish and communicate positive company values can experience a significant reduction in employee crime, including credit card fraud.

Hire dedicated employees. They are less likely to commit credit card fraud. One of the best ways to hire great workers is to do a pre-employment screening on every prospective employee. When you conduct a pre-employment background screening through Accu-Screen, Inc. at www.accuscreen.com you will receive accurate, updated information on a prospective employee. You will then have the information needed to make a sound hiring decision.