Banks Combat Fraud With SMS

Great idea, especially when they start issuing PayPass cards.

From Spamfo Master Card turns to SMS messages to combat fraud.

Written by Aunty Spam
Saturday, 12 February 2005

Here’s an interesting scenario: Someone somehow manages to get your credit card number (of course you would never fall for a phisher’s bait… your virus, spyware and firewall software are all up-to-date…

you don’t leave your card lying around… and who uses paper credit card transaction receipts any more to be found in the garbage?…but somehow they get your credit card number…) and they go to Fry’s and try to by a gross of radio pens.

The MasterCard system, noting the attempt at the unusually high charge of $15,588 from Frys in Sunnyvale, California, when you oridinarly only ever shop at Comp USA in Boston, attempts to alert you.

So far this scenario is not terribly new…the credit card giant has always attempted to protect its users from fraud - after all, user losses often turn into MasterCard losses.

But here is what is different: u r going 2 get a txt msg on ur phone, d00d!

That’s right. MasterCard International is putting in place a new program which will allow interested users to register their cellphone numbers, either online or at their bank, and if there is a questionable transaction, the system will send an SMS text message to the user’s phone. According to a report on Silicon.com,

“If the cardholder confirms the transaction is fraudulent, the card can be blocked in minutes, instead of having to go via the bank’s call centre operatives."