Money Tip of the Day: Your Credit Card Security Code
The problem has existed for some time (the Snopes Urban Legend reference is from December 2003), but I believe the suggested reaction to it is inadequate.
The question is: What should you do if you get a call from someone claiming to be with Visa or MasterCard Security who asks you for the three-digit security code on the back of your card?
Here’s how it works: The person claiming to be from Security asks you if you made a purchase from a named merchant (e.g., “an anti-telemarketing device from ABC Company in Colorado”), and when you tell them you didn’t, they say they will credit your account and start a fraud investigation.
Now that they have you at ease, they ask you to look at the back of your card and give them the three-digit security code on it “for verification purposes.”
Snopes’ suggested response is:
…..always verify the identities of the people with whom you speak. If you have security questions or concerns about your credit card, call the financial institution who issued your card directly. If someone contacts you by phone about your credit card, ask the caller to provide his name, department, and extension, then hang up and call him back through the phone number listed on your credit card or billing statement.
I do not feel this goes nearly far enough:
- IN ADDITION, hang up, call Customer Service at your card company, and demand that your account be closed and replaced with a new account number.
- If they won’t close and replace, close the account immediately and permanently.
Why? This bogus call from “Security” occurred because the caller already knows your credit card number, but needs your security code to make many catalog or online purchases and ultimately to produce a bogus card for “physical world” purchases. Calling you is one way to get the code, but even if you don’t give it to them, they can get it by testing transactions at a colluding merhant randomly until they learn it (after all, there’s a 1 in 999 chance of being right).
I believe that nothing short of account number replacement is acceptable.
If your card company won’t do that, nothing short of account closure is acceptable. If you threaten to close, there’s a good chance that they’ll change their mind about card number replacement.
