I caught a bogus credit card today (kinda longish)

[king4aday]

So I was working my first day as assistant manager (read my post about that in general work area) and I had a gentleman come up to the register with about $100 worth of merchandise which I rang up in my usual cheery manner when he handed me a credit card...like always I flipped it over for the signature....check....flipped it back over to look at the type of card....Visa....then looked at the number... which started with 5....

Immediately I was and told the man "Im sorry I cant take this card...its not a valid credit card" he replied "sure it is...its a visa" to which I replied..."Im sorry sir...the logo on the card might say visa...but the number tells me different." to which he replied "you cant tell what type of card it is by the number" and I told him that yes you definately can..and informed him that the first numbers of credit cards tell what type of credit card it is (I didnt inform him what the numbers/types correspond to each other). He turned white as a ghost...left his stuff along with the card on the counter....I called the mall office and informed them of the man and they said that they would keep an eye out for him...mall security came around with an officer to pick up the fake card....not sure what happened beyond that.

FYI:

Visa starts with 4
Mastercard starts with 5
Amex starts with 3
and discover starts with 6011

[mattm04]

You should have taken it since "the customer is always right."

/sarc

But good job for being attentive. We had a cashier who accepted a "check" written on a piece lined notebook paper. The union couldn't help keep that person, they were so dumb.

[rerant]

Another way to check is to match up the last four digits of the card with the last four digits of the account number on the reciept, in case the first number is correct for the type of card.
The last four digits of a phony card will never match up with those on the receipt, which are the correct digits for the account the card was made from.

[rerant]

We had a cashier who accepted a "check" written on a piece lined notebook paper. The union couldn't help keep that person, they were so dumb.

Wh... how... but...

[Broomjockey]

But good job for being attentive. We had a cashier who accepted a "check" written on a piece lined notebook paper. The union couldn't help keep that person, they were so dumb.

Okay, first, tell me where that person works now. Second, I gotta get me some lined notebook paper!

[MMATM]

Actually, to play devil's advocate:
A check can be written on anything, as long as it is written in pen and includes the following...

-Full name of account holder, as it appears in account records
-Address of account holder (might not be necessary)
-Name of entity (person or business) to the order of which payment is made
-Amount of payment in number format (e.g. "$XX.XX")
-Amount of payment in letter format (e.g. "X'ty X dollars and ------------- XX/100")
-Account number
-Routing number
-Signature of account holder

...and as long as it is acceptable to the retailer to take such a check.

I've heard somewhere that a check only needs the signature of the payee and the acceptance of the retailer in order to be valid, but I think it means in addition to the above information. I've also heard that in one example of this a woman wrote a check on her purse and it was both accepted by the retailer and honored/cashed by the bank.

I've always wanted to write a check on a banana, since the payee would have to A) find a place to endorse it, B) cash/deposit it within a few days lest the banana get overripe and unreadable, and C) take extra-special care when giving little poopykins their school lunch, lest they be out a large chunk of cash.
By the same token (I'm good at arcade games, you see, and I can do that) I've always wanted to mail a banana, since the skin of the fruit is technically acceptable as a form of envelope, and all you need is the proper postage and address.

[Broomjockey]

Actually, to play devil's advocate:
A check can be written on anything, as long as it is written in pen and includes the following...

-Full name of account holder, as it appears in account records
-Address of account holder (might not be necessary)
-Name of entity (person or business) to the order of which payment is made
-Amount of payment in number format (e.g. "$XX.XX")
-Amount of payment in letter format (e.g. "X'ty X dollars and ------------- XX/100")
-Account number
-Routing number
-Signature of account holder

...and as long as it is acceptable to the retailer to take such a check.

Ah, it's that last one that's the sticky wicket, you see. Because if it happens once that a number isn't completely legible, and the bank rejects it (since it wouldn't be able to be read by machines) they'd throw a hissy fit of epic proportions.
Besides, I've only written like 12 cheques in my entire life, and 10 of them were for rent, so it's not like I'm in danger of running out any time soon

P.S. I hate you for that token joke

[Anakah]

Wow I didn't know the first number meant anything. That's great to know, thank you! Now I can keep a better watch. This is why I love this site. I get to learn new things and better ways to protect myself and others.

[repsac]

Most places will tell you that they refuse to take "Counter" or "Starter" checks where a person writes in the account number and information. There's a handful of reasons why, but would you believe we had a number of clients at Lowe's who would only get that kind of check? Of course they'd throw a conniption fit each time the cashier and then management refused the checks. They eventually figured out to pay with cash.

[MrDelirious]

Visa starts with 4
Mastercard starts with 5
Amex starts with 3
and discover starts with 6011

How did I not notice this. As I read the post I was like "wait...Amex's start with 3...and Holy crap!"



I should have noticed this before.

[CancelMyService]

I used to work for a company that handled cancellations for Amex, you can even tell what kind of card it is from the first 4 digits. They all start with 37xx, I think 3702 was the black "no limit" cards.

[myswtghst]

I'm just glad that someone other than me has all those starter numbers memorized. In the dept I used to work in, when I still did sales/ordering, we would take Visa or Mastercard only, and could pay invoices with AMEX, but it involved this obscenely long form filled out manually. I very quickly learned what numbers people should start the card # with if it was going to take in the computer system.

[jamar]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what it would be for JCB and other less-common cards?

[OfficeSlug]

Another way to check is to match up the last four digits of the card with the last four digits of the account number on the reciept, in case the first number is correct for the type of card.
The last four digits of a phony card will never match up with those on the receipt, which are the correct digits for the account the card was made from.

But what do you do since the receipt is already printed up and they're ready to go...?

[hawkchick11]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know what it would be for JCB and other less-common cards?

I have it on a sheet at work.. I cant remember off the top of my head though, I've never had anyone pay with something other than AMEX, Visa, MC or Discover before