FACTA Violation Penalties

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, was passed in 2003 to help protect consumer credit card information from potential fraud and identity theft.

Despite the importance of FACTA, many people who use credit cards do not know about FACTA rules, and therefore don’t know how to spot a FACTA violation.

However, knowing how to spot a FACTA violation can help protect you and thousands of others from fraud or identity theft.

It can also lead to substantial compensation since businesses who fail to follow FACTA rules are strictly penalized.

FACTA awards statutory damages to consumers of up to $1,000 per individual violation. This compensation is given even if the consumer did not suffer any ill effects from the violation, such as identity theft or fraud.

The violation itself is penalized under FACTA rules.

Since FACTA violations apply only to electronically printed receipts, and very few businesses use handwritten receipts any longer.

FACTA noncompliant machines can print thousands of receipts with these violations, any of which could expose a consumer to fraud or identity theft. Because of this danger, violations are heavily penalized.

A company that has printed thousands of FACTA noncompliant receipts maybe penalized hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

In order to ensure all receipts comply with FACTA rules, businesses need to make sure that their machines are up-to-date and properly set to comply with FACTA.

Common FACTA Violations

There are several FACTA rules that businesses often break. Knowing what to look out for can help ensure that your personal credit card information is kept safe.

FACTA requires that businesses use a process called truncation, or the shortening of consumer information on a receipt, to limit the information a fraudster can glean.

Firstly, a consumer’s credit or debit card number must be truncated so that only the last five digits or fewer are shown. The rest of the number is often censored using asterisks or other symbols.

Receipts which reveal any number other than those last five digits are violating FACTA. Businesses may, however, choose to censor everything but the last four digits, which they often do since card numbers come in four-digit segments.

Five digits or fewer from anywhere else in the number may not be shown.

The following are FACTA-compliant, properly-truncated credit card numbers:

**** **** **** 1234

**** **** ***1 2345

However, digits may not be shown from anywhere else in the card number than those last five digits. Therefore, this improper truncation violates FACTA.

1234 **** **** ****

FACTA rules also require that the card’s expiration date be completely censored. This is often displayed like this:

**/**

If any part of a card’s expiration date is showing, the business that printed the receipt has committed a FACTA violation.

FACTA Violation Lawsuits

Consumers who have been given receipts that do not properly comply with FACTA rules may file a lawsuit against the business, collecting compensation.

It is important to check your receipts regularly for any FACTA violation, because it protects your information as well as the information of potentially thousands of others.

Free FACTA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you made one or more purchases and the retailer provided you with a receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible for a free class action lawsuit investigation and to pursue compensation for these FACTA violations.

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