An increasing number of banks and retailers are obliging or requesting their customers to sign up for one or other, with customers told it offers an additional layer of protection from fraudsters. But the systems encourage people to enter their confidential information into pages that they cannot be sure are genuine and customers could end up liable for the loss. (See this video from the BBC for the full story).
Security breach
"Criminals are impersonating Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode websites and collecting confidential customer data for example their password, their ATM pin [or] their card number," said Steven Murdoch of Cambridge University.The UK Cards Association says the existence of Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure Code reduces fraud overall. It adds that banks should pay up unless they can prove the customer had been careless.
"We've never claimed that those systems are 100% secure," said Mark Bowerman from the association. "However, if someone is a victim of fraud having signed up to those systems, then unless their bank has hard and fast evidence that they've acted negligently, then their bank should be making an immediate refund to them."
The UK Cards Association says that where customers feel they have not been treated fairly, they can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
When you register for Verified by VISA or MasterCard SecureCode via your bank you will be asked to create a Personal Assurance Message. It can be a statement, sentence or phrase of your choice. By registering for the service whilst making a purchase at a participating online retailer, your Personal Assurance Message will be preset to display "Welcome". Once you have registered for Verified by VISA/MasterCard SecureCode, and are subsequently shopping at a participating online retailer, your Personal Assurance Message will display the first line of your address. This provides you with the assurance that you are shopping with a participating Verified by VISA/MasterCard SecureCode online retailer. Should you wish to change this, you may do so via the Credit Cards, Secure Online Shopping section of your bank. Your Personal Assurance Message will appear at the point of purchase with participating Verified by VISA/MasterCard SecureCode online retailers. During the purchase process and before you enter your SecureCode Password you should always check to see that your Personal Assurance Message appears correctly. This will confirm that you are dealing with a participating Verified by VISA/MasterCard SecureCode online retailer.
But if you have not set up a PAM and have been misled by a rogue site the situation is very fluid at the moment - more advice on what to do soon ....