Is It Safe to Put Your Signature on the Back of Your Credit Card?

03/28/2008
Security and Protection

Credit card fraud is the most sufficient drawback in dealing with plastics. Cautious card holders use different methods to avoid fraud and identity theft. Some place fraud alarm systems on their credit files, others just try to be extremely careful every time they flash their plastics.

You know that every time you get a new credit card, you are supposed to put your signature on the back of the plastic. But this is not an obligatory requirement. Many people consider a signature to be an extra risk for them. They believe that the signature makes them a pushover for scammers. Let's try to figure out if signing your credit card is really so dangerous.

If you look at the back of some card holder's credit card, you are most likely to find whether the signature line is signed, blank, or with a "see ID" notice on it. More and more credit consumers these days prefer not to sign their plastic, in order to secure themselves from credit card fraudsters' attacks. And that is wise, on the one hand.

If you sign your card and it falls into thieves' hands, they will have absolutely no problems with making purchases with your plastic. They have your card, your signature, there's just one little thing left - forging your signature on a receipt. And that is a piece of cake for fraudsters. Besides, your signature along side with your other personal information that can be drawn from your credit card details can become the key for scammers to fill out new credit card applications and get approved.

This is what can happen if you sign your card. Now let's see what happens if you leave the signature line blank or write "see ID" on it.

In case a clerk finds no signature on your plastic, he or she asks you for your ID and compares the signature you left on the receipt with the one you have on your ID. However, some clerks do not even take pains to turn your plastic over. So, does it really make any difference, whether your card is signed or not?

Major US credit card companies MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, and Discover advise to sign your cards. This way you will avoid problems with your credit card acceptance. The law forbids accepting credit cards without signature (if you have no ID with you). The smiling lady or gentleman at the register can easily reject your unsigned plastic. And though the chances that you will face problems with processing your unsigned credit card are really small, your filled out signature line guarantees that you will be served.

As for scam, fraudsters use so sophisticated methods of ID theft, that the presence or absence of your signature on the card will not matter at all. A thieve can just make a purchase online or by phone. Just try to be more careful when using your credit card. And think about some more effective methods of fraud protection, in order to secure your credit history and credit score from the scammers.

Some credit card companies issue good and bad credit cards, and other types of plastics, with a picture of you on the card. This is a much more helpful option that can really protect you from credit fraud. Thieves will have to work really hard to find a person that looks just like you.

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Comments

Sarah Pitterson, 08:34 AM, April 02, 2008
you are 100% right. they never look on the back of the plastics. I've, actually, seen that funny credit card hoax on one of the websites (can't remember the name of it right now), where a guy made an experment with his signature. He changed it every time he would put a signature on his receipts. he ended up scribbling a grid instead of the signature. And that was ok, his payment was acepted.

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