Could Your Credit Card Details Be Stolen from Gift Receipts?

During the holidays, many shoppers receive gift receipts along with their purchases. However, if these gift and credit card receipts are not compliant with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), they may contain personal credit card details and could potentially put consumers at risk of having their identities stolen.

What is FACTA?

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act was passed in 2003 and is intended to protect consumers from identity theft and related crimes. In addition to allowing consumers to place fraud alerts on their credit files and receive one free credit report per year, the act also requires retailers to take steps to protect the credit card details of customers.

Under FACTA, most retailers are prohibited from including more than the final five digits of a consumer’s card number on a receipt. They are also prohibited from including any part of the card’s expiration date. These rules are meant to prevent retailers from exposing sensitive financial information to potential thieves.

What Credit Card Details are Allowable on Receipts?

FACTA allows retailers to print the final five digits of card numbers on receipts. Any digits other than the final five, or any part of the expiration date, are not allowed to be printed. This regulation is meant to protect consumers from having their credit card details stolen from a stray receipt. In order to comply with these requirements, many retailers truncate card numbers on receipts by replacing the digits with the * or # symbols.

While big box retailers and other large companies are generally required to comply with FACTA regulations, not every retailer is bound by the law. One major exception is for companies that use handwritten receipts, rather than electronically printed ones. Handwritten receipts and receipts made by imprinting a copy of the card are not required to truncate credit card details. Consumers who are concerned about the possibility of their identity being stolen may want to be especially careful with these receipts, as it may be easy for thieves to steal personal information from them.

What Could Thieves Do with Stolen Credit Card Details?

If thieves get their hands on receipts that are not FACTA compliant and have not truncated the credit card number, they may be able to use this information to commit a variety of crimes. In addition to potentially being able to charge purchases to the consumer’s card, they may also be able to piece together enough personal information to steal the consumer’s identity and open lines of credit in their name. This may allow them to rack up debt attached to the consumer’s identity, negatively affect the consumer’s credit score, and affect the consumer’s ability to take out loans or lines of credit in the future.

Checking your credit report each year and reviewing your bank statements for unexpected charges may be one way for consumers to determine whether their credit card details have been exposed.

Have Any FACTA Lawsuits Been Filed?

Although most companies are legally required to comply with FACTA, some consumers have reported that not all companies may be abiding by the law. Several companies have been hit with class action lawsuits filed by consumers who claim that their personal credit card information was not protected.

According to one lawsuit filed in 2017, amusement park company Six Flags may be one of the companies that has failed to ensure compliance with FACTA. Plaintiffs Hugo and Sharon S. filed their lawsuit against the amusement park after they claimed they were given multiple receipts showing more than the last five digits of their card number.

The couple claimed that when they visited a Six Flags amusement park in August 2017, they made five purchases of food and other concessions. When they reviewed the receipts they were given for these purchases, they claimed that the first six digits of their card number was visible, in addition to the last four. According to them, the failure of the amusement park to truncate their financial information rose to the level of reckless conduct, and put them at risk of having their identities stolen.

Other companies that have been accused of printing credit card details on receipts include Godiva, Subway, Jimmy Choo, LabCorp, Microsoft, and Spirit Airlines.

If you have received a receipt from these or other retailers that failed to truncate your credit card details, you may be able to speak with an experienced attorney about the legal avenues available to you. Some victims of FACTA violations may be able to join or file a class action lawsuit and potentially pursue compensation.