When you're doing shopping for your apartment or residence hall room, buying lunch, getting new clothes, or picking up some snacks at the supermarket, if the cashier asks you for ID to use your credit or debit card, politely tell them "No!" By showing your ID, you increase your risk of costly identity theft, which can take years and cost thousands of dollars to clean up. Sadly, the problem stems from corrupt employees who will copy down information off your ID or memorize it and write it down later for misuse.
Under policies from the major credit card companies (Visa and MasterCard, and any establishment that takes Visa and/or MasterCard plus American Express), identification cannot be required for a sale provided the cardholder has signed the back of their credit or debit card. If you haven't signed your card, be sure to do so because not signing it can also increase your risk of identity theft, makes your card void in some cases, and could even make you liable for fraud that is typically covered by your bank if you followed their directions and signed the card.
If you hear of merchants in the Northeastern University area that are requiring identification for credit/debit cards, or breaking the rules by having minimum purchases or surcharges to use a credit card (which is even worse because it is against the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), let us know or report the fraud by calling 1-800-VISA-911 for Visa cards or by submitting an online report for MasterCard cards.
8 comments:
That would suck to go to jail for surcharginng someone 50 cents for a credit card
This is kind of ridiculous-- merchants can request to see an id (or flat out refuse to sell you something) if the signature on your id is worn off, and refusing to show it to them will just result in you not being able to make that purchase. It is also a widely held belief that by not signing your credit card and rather writing "See ID" will reduce identity theft by forcing merchants to check a photo id and verify that you are indeed the person whos name is on the card for security reasons. Besides, all of this sounds a bit alarmist-- has this even happened on campus?
If your signature wears off your card is no longer considered "signed" and you should re-sign it or request a new one from the issuing bank. However, when the card is signed the merchant cannot require ID as a requirement of the sale. Technically, they may ASK for ID, but if you say no they have to run the sale.
All Visa/MasterCard/American Express cards carry zero-liability for fraud on them. However, the bank can deny this protection if your card was not signed properly.
Some of our local merchants have violated the rules in the past, including those that take the HuskyCard. BHOP tried to pull a $5 minimum for a bit, but quickly took it away. Cappy's used to charge 25 cents extra for using a credit card. They did that to me when I was a freshman so I disputed the charge and the entire charge was voided since Cappy's broke the rules.
This is not housing related matt. Keep your blog for housing related items.
This affects students living in housing. What if one day Wollastons decided they wanted to ask for ID
With the massive amount of identity theft out there, why not?
Soooo Il Mondo's on Huntington Ave between Parker and Brigham Circle charges a $5 minimum on all cards. My friend had to buy an extra two slices of pizza just to buy a drink.......
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