|
POSitive Processing Blog
Gift Cards: The Gift That Thieves Keep Taking
Monday, April 29, 2019
Gift cards. They attract new customers, improve loyalty,
and increase cash flow. We’ve talked about how gift cards boost your bottom line, now it’s time to discuss how to
protect your business from fraudsters looking to take advantage of these
revenue boosters.
It’s no secret gift cards
are one of the easiest ways for merchants to increase both consumer traffic and
profit margins. However, as the volume of gift cards increases year after year,
the amount of fraud against consumers and merchants has also become a growing
issue.
HOW GIFT CARD FRAUD WORKS
Gift card fraud can take on several different forms. This
past holiday season has shown us a few emerging trends in both in-person and
online fraud.
Physical—The
loss from physical gift card fraud can seem relatively minor, but they can add
up. Almost 60% of retailers reported fraudulent gift cards in 2017, accounting
for billions in annual losses across the country.
Common physical scams include Scratch-off, fraudsters copy the gift card number, scratch off to
get the pin, and then replace it with another cover, and Return, stealing items, returning the items for store credit, and
reselling the gift card for cash.
Electronic—E-gift
cards are great for both online and physical merchants, saving you time and
money while being highly convenient. However, a breach on this front can be
extremely costly to an unprotected business. If a business is breached,
thieves can gain access to hundreds of cards all at once, causing potentially
unlimited damage.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
When it comes to physical gift cards, always keep them
close at hand. Have a display at the POS terminal where customers can easily
purchase them, while still keeping them protected. If you have a floor display,
consider changing up the packaging. If the card is sealed in a way that the pin
cannot be accessed without obvious damage, the odds of it being scammed
drastically decrease.
The best step to protecting yourself? Partnering with a
payment processor whose top priority is your security. The tighter your payments and processing security is, the
less vulnerable you are to data theft. Also, ensure your processor provides
both incident management and insurance.
At OMEGA, we work every day to provide our merchants with
the best and most secure options to keep you, your business, and your consumers
safe from fraud. Our PCI ToolKit and Vulnerability Scanning reduce risk and
continually check for potential weak points of entry, while our Data Incident
Management Program and Breach Insurance protect your business in the event a
breach should occur.
Don’t let the fraudsters scare you away from the bottom
line boosting world of gift cards—we’re here to keep you secure!
|
|
|
Blog Categories
Miscellaneous
11/21/2019 - Shortened Shopping Season
06/21/2019 - VeriFone Terminals
02/27/2019 - Take The Hassle Out Of Tax Sea
02/13/2018 - Innovative Visa Wearables Make
02/13/2018 - Little-Known Secrets of Credit
07/19/2017 - Beat the Summertime Blues
Just For Fun
11/14/2018 - Thanksgiving Fun Facts
05/24/2017 - Facts You Might Not Know (or M
03/13/2017 - Keys To Success — 8 To Be Grea
09/02/2016 - Happy Labor Day Weekend!
Payments Industry
03/06/2019 - Merchant Rules To Live By
01/09/2019 - Account Tune Up for the New Ye
09/19/2018 - Has Your Bottom Line Seen the
09/18/2018 - Are Your Business Merchants’ S
05/22/2018 - Interchange Explained
04/11/2018 - What to Avoid When Searching f
04/06/2018 - The Importance of Choosing You
12/21/2017 - The Basics of Chargebacks
12/12/2017 - No Need to Sign on the Dotted
07/26/2017 - Back to the Basics - Merchant
03/17/2017 - Innovation Project 2017
Products and Services
01/29/2020 - Let Us Help You Reach Your Goa
07/31/2019 - Mid-Summer Reboot
10/03/2018 - Are Your Business Customers Se
08/15/2018 - Introducing Poynt… The World’s
06/11/2018 - Interchange Savings Tool Now A
01/03/2018 - Data Breach? We Got Your Back
12/27/2017 - How Does OMEGA Protect Your Cu
12/12/2017 - New Year? New Goals? New Capit
12/06/2017 - Process with the Best
09/06/2017 - Unlock Cash Flow Opportunities
08/30/2017 - Are You Hungry for the Details
08/09/2017 - Happy (2nd) New Year!
11/30/2016 - Are You Ready?
Data Security and Fraud Prevention
05/29/2019 - Is Friendly Fraud Putting Your
04/29/2019 - Gift Cards: The Gift That Thie
04/03/2019 - Chargebacks: What Are They and
02/13/2019 - 3 Tips To Protect Your Busines
11/12/2018 - Are you PCI Compliant?
03/14/2018 - Merchant Guide: 10 Essential T
02/12/2018 - Common Business Scams and How
02/09/2018 - Data Security Fast Facts
01/17/2018 - Vulnerability Scanning vs. Pen
01/17/2018 - BBB Warns of Email Scams This
01/10/2018 - Arm Your Business Against Cybe
11/15/2017 - MERCHANT FRAUD ALERT, 11-15-20
09/22/2017 - Have You Heard How OMEGA’s Dat
08/02/2017 - MERCHANT FRAUD ALERT, 08-02-20
OMEGA in the Community
07/05/2017 - Parades, Baseball and the Four
03/08/2017 - 9th Region Championship Player
02/06/2017 - OMEGA’s Players of the Game
01/23/2017 - TWO New OMEGA Player’s of the
01/13/2017 - OMEGA’s Defensive Player of th
01/09/2017 - 2017’s First OMEGA Player of t
11/21/2016 - OMEGA’s Offensive Player of th
11/14/2016 - OMEGA Processing Offensive Pla
11/10/2016 - OMEGA in the Community
11/07/2016 - OMEGA Processing’s Player of t
10/31/2016 - OMEGA Processing Player of the
10/25/2016 - OMEGA Processing Player of the
10/12/2016 - OMEGA Processing’s Player of t
10/04/2016 - OMEGA Processing Player of the
09/19/2016 - Sergent Wins Player of the Gam
09/06/2016 - OMEGA Processing Solutions Pla
OMEGA Merchants, News, and People
12/12/2018 - 2018 Year in Review
10/17/2018 - OMEGA Processing Solutions Cel
07/25/2018 - OMEGA Processing’s Kim Polark
05/31/2018 - OMEGA Processing’s Daena Spraf
04/20/2018 - Making Every Day Earth Day
04/11/2018 - How’s an Extra $100 Sound?
12/28/2017 - 2017 Year in Review
10/11/2017 - NO Contract. NO ETF. NO Long-T
07/05/2017 - OMEGA Processing Solutions Add
12/30/2016 - Some of our Favorite Moments
09/01/2016 - OMEGA Processing’s Caroline Ok
Mobile Payments
11/08/2017 - Mobile Made Easy with OMEGA
08/03/2017 - A Good Thing Just Got Better —
10/18/2016 - SwipeSimple: Mobile Made Bette
B2B and E-Commerce Solutions
08/26/2019 - Maximize Your B2B Interchange
10/13/2017 - Saving on B2B Interchange
05/03/2017 - EMV Option Now Available for V
02/09/2017 - Why Should Your B2B Business A
Short-Term Capital Funding
Gift Cards and Customer Rewards
04/01/2019 - Spring Has Sprung and So Can Y
09/06/2018 - The Holidays Are Coming..Are Y
08/22/2018 - Sales are up 100%!
09/13/2017 - When Should You Start Planning
08/18/2017 - Black Friday is Coming!
07/19/2017 - Gift and Loyalty: We Have an A
02/23/2017 - Boost Spring Sales with OMEGA’
Point-of-Sale Systems
FI Partner Program
OMEGA Spotlight
03/19/2020 - OMEGA Spotlight-Gritt's Midway
03/02/2020 - OMEGA Spotlight-Good Car Compa
02/04/2020 - OMEGA Spotlight-Julianne Merte
01/13/2020 - OMEGA Spotlight-Events LLC
12/04/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Dean Sturtz
11/20/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Canterbury Far
10/24/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Sarah Jeffries
10/10/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Outlier Cycles
09/25/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Bruce Morris
09/10/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Pangallo's on
08/27/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Hair Plus Beau
08/14/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Customer Servi
07/23/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Eddie's Southe
07/10/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Barbara Bailey
06/25/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Big Catz BBQ
06/11/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Kim Figgins
05/23/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Kava House & C
05/14/2019 - OMEGA Spotlight-Stevie Dumbuya
|
|
|
|