Fair And Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that in 2008, credit card fraud in Missouri was the single biggest form of identity theft. More than 1 in 5 instances of identity theft in Missouri were due to credit card fraud. Further, the FTC estimated that over 9 million persons each year have their identity assumed by criminals for financial gain, causing losses in excess of $50 billion.

In response to these staggering statistics, Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) in order to mitigate the losses related to credit and debit card fraud resulting from identity theft. Specifically, FACTA, which is contained within the Fair Credit Reporting Act, provides that:

[N]o person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last five digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of sale or transaction.

The publication of only the last four or five digits of a customer account number drastically reduces the extent to which a potential thief can use a customer’s receipts to facilitate identity theft.

FACTA was passed by Congress in 2003. The act provided that businesses with existing point of sale credit and/or debit card machines would have until December 4, 2006, about a three year window of opportunity, to comply with its requirements before the law would be fully enforced.

Do You Suspect Credit or Debit Card Fraud Due to Improper Account Number Information Printed on Receipts?

Contact Our Kansas City Attorneys

If you or anyone you know has experienced credit or debit card fraud or suspects possible fraud due to improper account number information printed on receipts, please contact us. The attorneys at Brady & Associates are highly experienced with respect to issues regarding FACTA and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

To set up a phone consultation, call us at (913) 696-0925, or contact us online. We are based near Kansas City, and serve clients throughout Kansas, Missouri as well as throughout the United States.