Today, the Canadian payments landscape consists of traditional payment methods that consumers have grown to trust: cash, debit, credit, check, prepaid products, and gift cards. What will tomorrow hold?
The Accenture 2016 North American Consumer Digital Payments Survey published a projected comparison of consumer use of payments over a 5 year period from 2016 to 2020. The survey indicates that the use of prepaid cards & gift cards is anticipated to increase approximately 3%, from 13% to 16%. This means that 16% of respondents in this sample group anticipate they will use prepaid cards and gift cards to make a purchase both online and in store by the year 2020.
Evidently, prepaid products are growing in popularity among the average Canadian consumer as an alternative way to pay for goods and services. This means that consumers need to be aware of the types of scams targeting prepaid products used as forms of payment.
As a consumer, how can you protect yourself from these fraudsters?
5 Quick Tips To Keep In Your Back Pocket:
- Don’t get left behind. There is nothing worse than being a victim of fraudulent activity when it could have been prevented. Stay informed of the latest fraud advisories and know best practices to protect yourself. Be sure to visit the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre for more information.
- Keep your prepaid card in a safe place. Failure to do so leaves you vulnerable to theft. Losing prepaid cards is like losing cash.
- Assign a unique PIN code to your general purpose reloadable card. Your PIN is no one’s business but your own. Keep it private. Your PIN should not represent anything meaningful to you such as your birthdate or street address. When guessing a password, fraudsters will look for ways to connect your password to your personal life. It is best to choose a PIN that is a random series of numbers.
- Trust your intuition. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. There are different scams that can occur in the prepaid card space, meant to target innocent consumers just like yourself. Fraudsters can try to scam you online or over the phone, appearing as though they are selling legitimate products and asking for payment via prepaid products. You should never need to provide a deposit or advance payment via prepaid cards on sites like Kijiji.
- Always report fraudulent encounters to the authorities. Speaking up can help to prevent a second offence from occurring to you or to someone else. Some victims of fraud are hesitant to report the details of the incident because they are embarrassed or scared, leavings others susceptible to the same scam. Remember, even if it isn’t fraud, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
As the prepaid payments space continues to grow, it is important for consumers and retailers alike to be cognizant of the types of fraud that can occur and how to steer clear of fraudsters looking to target their next victim.
If you are a retailer of prepaid products, check out the latest fraud alerts & advisories on our website. You can also download our ebook on the cost and consequences of fraud to your business.