Have you checked your black Friday receipts for credit card details?

This holiday season, while different in many ways, still rings with an enduring truth; check your Black Friday receipts for credit card details and FACTA compliance.

Until this year, online shopping had steadily been on the rise, increasing even more drastically due to the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Last year’s Black Friday saw Amazon bringing in 60% more sales than the previous year, but this year, online sales took a bit of a dive, dipping to $8.9 billion from $9.0 billion in 2020. It’s not a huge drop; however, this marks the first time that online Black Friday shopping has dropped at all.

By contrast, in-store shopping has rebounded from last year’s low, but failed to reach the levels seen prior to the pandemic, according to Business Insider.

Lots of consumers are also shopping smarter, buying earlier in the season to avoid crowds and shipping delays, and also taking advantage of things like buy-now-pay-later services.

“Scammers will be out there in huge numbers this year — an army of Grinches looking to steal Christmas,” founder of security firm CyberScout said in 2020, during the first Black Friday of the pandemic. “More shoppers are going to try new, unfamiliar ways to shop online this year — and that’s great — but it will open the door to new vulnerabilities. It’s important to know what steps can help keep the season bright.”

Those vulnerabilities have evolved past the days of a thief pulling out a thrown away receipt to steal identities. Now, hackers are obtaining details on credit cards through phishing attacks, malicious links, social media and other wired means. 

Congress takes action with FACTA 

The notion thieves could use paper receipts to reconstitute entire identities had lawmakers taking moves to stop it. Federal laws have since been enacted to protect consumer credit card details used in making purchases. 

Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) in 2003 as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The initial law required merchants to mask either the credit card’s number or the expiration date.

By 2008, FACTA was amended to require both the expiration date and a truncated credit card number on a machine-printed receipt. The laws did not apply to handwritten receipts or ones imprinted or included in a package. Merchants who did give receipts this way between 2004 and 2008 were exempt from prosecution.

FACTA was intended to curb the rampant identity theft surging from exposed credit card details, but criminals still found a way. By 2009, 50% of all credit card fraud was made by thieves who didn’t even hold the physical card.

Pilfering of credit card details persists

The FACTA laws enacted to protect credit card details certainly added a level of guarantee for U.S. consumers, but the crimes are still happening.

Criminals continue to nab stolen credit card details not only by pilfering things like Black Friday receipts, but also through malicious links spread through email and other phishing attacks.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports receiving 3,271 different complaints from suspected credit card fraud in 2020, totaling an estimated $6.4 million in losses.

Even more, the agency saw 1,658 debit card complaints claiming $2.8 million in losses. The FTC reports the bulk of these complaints come from online shopping and vacation spending.

Still, police briefs in local newspapers across the country continue to publish instances of identity theft victims. A 41-year-old Ohio man called the police after realizing an unemployment claim and a Cabela’s Visa card had been opened fraudulently in his name last month.

Other than Black Friday receipts, experts point to other vulnerabilities in the buying process that leaves sensitive credit card details exposed. 

“An enormous number of people are footloose and fancy free when it comes to their interactions with retailers over the holiday season,” said Adam Levin, founder of security firm CyberScout.

Even more, he says, with everyone working from home during the pandemic, a third of IT departments across the US are reporting concern over unsecure company networks. 

Court-ordered FACTA compliance

Violating the federal FACTA laws can be costly. 

In 2015, Spirit Airlines agreed to payout $7.5 million to plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit over exposed credit card details. Receipts in that case were not completely masked when printed and revealed the last four and the last seven digits of the ticketholder’s credit card number.

Subway settled a FACTA-based class action lawsuit in 2016 for $30.9 million. Receipts given to plaintiffs had the full expiration date printed on the copy.

In 2017, a Florida man sued LabCorp, Inc. after getting routine lab work done. He took issue with the front desk handing him a receipt disclosing the expiration date of his credit card.

Last year, FedEx settled a class action lawsuit alleging FACTA violations. Class members were give up to $25 in gift cards over claims the first and last sequence of their credit card numbers were printed on receipts.

Securing your credit card details

Not clicking on hard-to-believe deals may be the easiest way to keep your credit card safe, experts say. The general approach to guarding against identity theft is to recognize the risks. Don’t use easy passwords and keep all your devices up-to-date, software-wise. They may seem pesky, but clicking OK when prompted so makes sure your systems are defending against the latest threats. 

Virtual private networks, or VPNS can also afford peace of mind, especially if providing credit card details using a publicly offered wireless internet connection. 

Be skeptical of apps other than those official ones offered by the retailer, experts say. Many cards now offer so-called “virtual wallets” that give another layer of protection. 

The fraud detection product market

The demand for products that protect against credit card details from being stolen is growing. 

Predictions claim the industry will swell to an $80 billion business by 2025.

“Frauds in any vertical squander tax money, raise the price of several goods & services, pull resources from innovations, and even cost human lives,” a Market Insights concluded in its 2019-2025 Global Fraud Detection and Prevention report.

Are you eligible for a FACTA claim?

Those who’ve had their credit card details exposed by such receipts could be entitled to monetary damages.

The receipt has to be printed with more than the last five numbers of your credit card or with the card’s expiration dates.

Claimants may sue for negligence under FACTA laws if so, but are limited to actual injuries. Willful violations of FACTA, however, carry damages of $100 to $1,000 per transaction as well as punitive damages.