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looking for lapses and would gladly pounce on any little opportunity that they have.
It is very important to have the transaction platform in mind while trying to initiate any type of transaction. We will quickly look at the 3 major platforms that we use for our day to
day transaction and how to initiate safe transactions on them.
1. POS: Point of Sales Terminal has been a common means of payment platform across the country, most shops and supermarkets now accepts payment via the POS terminal. Payments via the POS has made life easy for so many as there is no need to carry lots of cash for a purchase.
In as much as it has made transaction easy, it also puts the card at risk as it is exposed to a 3rd party(shop attendant). We have had cases where customers complained of unauthorized POS
transactions and it usually comes after their last POS transactions. Two things usually happen.
a. The shop attendant sees the card and could cram the information on it while trying to wait for better network reception to complete the payment and could use the card detail for online transaction.
b. The shop attendant swaps the customers card after making the payment. This is a rare case but it happens. Most people don't usually take note of this but it is very important you do as it happens. Always check your card thoroughly before you leave that supermarket.
2. ATM: Automated Teller Machine, popularly known as ATM is by far the most used platform for cash withdrawal. In as much as the POS terminal is becoming a widely used payment platform, people still carry cash about. Some Nigerians still don't believe in using the POS yet, they would rather make a withdrawal and pay with cash instead of using the POS, though POS is still growing in terms of presence.
ATM fraud has been something very common this day, before using an ATM, make sure to check for the blinking light at the card slot, before slotting in your card. This is very important as some fraudsters insert a sticky substance inside the card slot area and any card that goes in never comes out. At times the face of the ATM terminal is been covered with a look-alike that saves a card holder's pin just like what they used in one of Will Smith's movie, Focus. So be very careful while using the ATM terminal.
3. ONLINE: This is also another fast growing shopping platform, more and more people are getting used to doing their shopping online, it saves them the stress of going out and most times, goods are been delivered to them at their doorstep. In as much as it is easy and convenient, it also has some risks attached to it as you must input your card details to complete your transaction.
Some site even asks you to save your card details for easy payment next time. We should always be mindful of the site you use your card on, look at the URL very careful before you visit them. Very important to know the difference between HTTP:// and HTTPS://, with the "s" is a secure site and without it is not secure. So always take note of this.
Another thing that is important to note while shopping online is the Terms and Conditions before completing that transaction. I know Africans don't really read but you should try and always read this part as there are some products that have the auto renewal option and it is always written in the Terms and Conditions, you can choose to accept or decline it.
Most card holders have complained in the past of being debited for a transaction they've been debited for before, like a month or 2 weeks ago. After running a thorough check on the card holders account, we noticed that the transaction was an auto renewal that will keep hitting the customers account since the site has the card detail saved. So it's either the card holder call the merchant and request that they cancel the auto renewal process or block the card.
We can avoid all these fraud cases, all we need is just to be very careful.
There you have it, feel free to drop your comment and addition on what we missed.
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