h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When are you going to wake up to credit card security and fall into line with the rest of the developed world? My card has been cloned again I won't have to pay any of it - the credit company will take care of that, but it shouldn't happen in the first place, and it wouldn't if a) the people behind the tills would actually look at the signature on the card and match it with the one on the credit card slip instead of blithely handing it back as soon it's been run through the reader (and decline any card that wasn't signed - that's about 80% of them from my experience at Cheapo), and b) if retailers and credit card companies would take the trouble to install chip and pin machines and start issuing cards with chips. I hear that it's very difficult to use an American card abroad now because almost none of them have a chip, and without one the card doesn't work.

No doubt, by the time America comes around to chip and pin, chip and pin will be compromised and obsolete, and the rest of the world will already be using whatever the next generation of card security turns out to be. And in the meantime I've got to wait up to two weeks for a replacement card

I hope it comes before a certain monthly bill paid for with the card comes due.

You (theUSA) don't have chip and pin? Seriously? Oh my word. That is senselessness.

The banks refuse to upgrade.

They're only considering it now because of the massive liability this last year proved to be with the huge hacks of Target, Home Depot and others.

In 2013, the credit card companies lost over $7 Billion. That sounds like a lot, but when that's compared to the $158 Billion they expected to earn this year, the inconvenience and insecurity of their customers' accounts is not the priority we would think it should be.

I'm on my 4th Amex card in the last 18 months. My latest card has a chip but no pin. And the chip is worthless if the stores don't have chip enabled scanners. Most don't.

Fourth in 18 months? That's just plain silly, and avoidable. This is only my third in a few years, and I'm tempted now to sign up for a service that gives you an alert on your cellphone whenever a payment is requested, so that you can allow it or not. I've seen people at supermarket checkouts whip out their phone and wait a few seconds before their food can be be paid for.

Oh, and now the card's been cancelled and a new one issued, does that mean last month's bill has been cancelled too? it was rather a large one, what with Christmas and all

I get email alerts anytime a charge is processed when the card is not present at the transaction. So far, all the fraudulent transactions have been of that type. But I still check all activity in the event the card was cloned.

I've had two cards involuntarily replaced this year. One was the aforementioned Target hack.

I've been quite fortunate so far. I haven't noticed any fraudulent charges... ever. I have had the card company question charges when it actually was me, for which I was quite grateful.

I also, to my knowledge, never had a computer virus. I would say I've never found any malware, but I have to assume there has been/is spyware on my computer. I know there was once as I used to use RealPlayer.

There also the contactless payment system now, which has no PIN or signature security feature at all. Anyone who gets your card can use it just by waving it over the sensor.

The only security feature is that it is only for use up to £20, but depending in how long it takes you to discover and report your lost/stolen card, that could still allow a hell of a lot of £20 payments to be made.

The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.

(Scotty)

I got an email this morning alerting me to a possible fraudulent charge on my card. Looks like there are probably three of them.

A couple of years back one of the cash points in the local area was the cause of several people's cards (mine included) being cloned and used in Russia. Thankfully it was month end and there was buggar all in the account .

Some wag decided to paint on said cash point under the bank's name, 'Funding Russia since February 2012'. It was only there for a few hours.

Yep. Always take a good look at the card slot before inseting your card. Even better, get tactile with it. Often the card skimmers are attached with double sided tape over the actual slot. My dad had his card skimmed once at a gas pump.

Btw, something I noticed during my Manchester/Edinburgh trip was that all the ATMs I used hold your card during the transaction. Almost none of the ATMs here do so. Most were replaced with ones where you insert and remove your card or simply swipe it before the transaction.

The ones that hold my card always make me anxious. I've had a machine confiscate my card in error. It's was a pain getting it back, especially as I worked during the hours that the bank was open.

Seeing as it's simple enough for banks to cancel a card electronically, and that cloned cards could be recloned if they didn't, I don't see a good reason for the ATM to hold your card.

I'd quite forgotten about ATMs doing that in the UK. My bank used to have the ones where you swipe the card; now it's insert and withdraw. They also made me go through a process with my debit card whereby every ATM in their network will recognise me, personally, every time my card is inserted and say "Hello Mr Gosho, please enter your PIN". They think it's customer service. I think it's bloody awful security

It irks me too that at too many ATMs and card readers in shops (if I decide to use my debit card, which is almost never these days) my hand is in full view of anyone and everyone when I enter said PIN.

I have a slight advantage in that I am pretty quick with ten-key input using three fingers (4 when adding totals). It's much harder to visually track three fingers as compared to one finger hunting and pecking.

I need to have a discussion with my credit union regarding security issues. Their passwords are limited to 10 alphanumeric characters only, no special characters. That is pitiful. Also, they don't offer two step authentication which entails every time you log in from an unrecognized computer or mobile device, you are sent a PIN via your cell phone which you then enter to complete your login. If you receive a PIN unexpectedly, you know someone is trying to access your account.

There is another local credit union I could switch to, but I've had an account with my current one for over 40 years and, like here on h2g2, I have a 5 digit account number of which I'm pointlessly proud.

I do have a slight anxiety over using my debit card in Spain, in case the machine takes a dislike to the flavour of the card and swallows it. I've started to only use it at a branch nearby when the office is open, so I can go in and talk to the staff.

I recently lost a four-digit account number when a site closed down. I'd been there almost since the beginning, thanks to GreyDesk (anyone remember him?). I had to sign up for another one but my new number is in the 70-thousands.

It's an unimportant (in light of the world's issues and problems) and a vain thing, but I miss it. I even asked Jimster once, in view of the fact that so many 5-digit U numbers here have never been used, if any of them could be opened up for long-standing members, but alas no. I didn't really expect it to be honest.

I almost remember his French nickname. Wasn't it Bureau Gris.

That's the one.