The food and beverage sector is the single largest segment of reported credit/debit card fraud. And it has been that way for a number of years now. Trustwave’s 2012 report said it accounted for 46.3% of reports, showing that despite efforts by card issuers and the PCI Compliance Council, consumers remain at significant risk when using credit or debit cards at restaurants and fast-food locations.
And yet it appears many members of the general public have no clue of the risk of using their cards in these settings. Consider the following from a news story about card skimming at at an Orlando, Florida restaurant:
Risa Carter is like 81 percent of Americans. When she eats out, she puts her tab on her credit card.
But when a customer hands over his or her plastic, they trust the restaurant with their personal information.
“I never really thought about it, honestly,” Carter said. “I never really did. I just hand it over, ‘Here you go.'”
“It’s never occurred to me at a restaurant,” said Toby Phillips. “I’ve never heard of someone being targeted at a restaurant.”
Assuming Toby Phillips has not lived under a rock, how can it be that members of the public do not know about all the fraud incidents that stem from card use at restaurants and fast-food places?
One might think that media coverage of such breaches would have jumped the shark already. But it seems our work on educating the public is not done.
What will it take to get the word out to a broader consumer base?