Summary. The 3-4 digit credit card code is used used for 1x online transactions only, not repeated automatic transactions, not in person or face-to-face transactions.
More emails are going around with each one describing an instance of a credit card scam alerting you to beware. I hope this email will help you judge whether a particular situation you could possibly find yourself in is real or a scam. As there are a lot of potential scenarios that could be used to create a scam, the best way to protect yourself is to understand the use of credit card information. The particular one I'll explain is the 3-digit code printed on the back of cards from Visa and MC or the 4-digit code printed in front for AmEx cards.
This 3-digit or 4-digit code is called the card verification value or CVV. It serves to prove you have the card in hand when making an online transaction. Consequently it is not used in face-to-face transactions, those where you actually are at a merchant's location and have handed the merchant's agent, such as the cashier or the person at a hotel's registration desk, the card or you swipe it yourself on the merchant's terminal. Nor is it used in recurring transactions, those which you may have setup with the merchant to charge your account automatically every month. An example of this is when you pay your power company monthly with a credit card. Once the setup procedure has been completed with the merchant, they have the information they need on hand. The one time the merchant for this type of transaction will contact you is to update the expiration date on a soon-to-be expired card.
When caught in a situation where a third party is asking for CVV information, please pause to consider if you have made an online transaction. However, as online transactions are computer automated, it's a safe bet that such a request is a scam. Hope this helps. In times like these I'm glad I worked for Visa.
Posted by Juanita Mercado
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