Students worry about credit card information printed on receipts
Debit and credit card receipts from purchases at The Hub and Carousel are putting USU students at risk for identity theft, said Utah State University’s Extension family resource management specialist.
Barbara Rowe is concerned about the dangers associated with the distribution of valuable personal information.
Receipts are printed with the credit or debit card’s full number and displays a carbon copy of the customer’s signature. This has been a concern for Jean Lown, professor of consumer science.
“It’s a bad thing because it facilitates identity theft,” Lown said.
Identity theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of information, such as a social security number, driver’s license or credit card number, in order to obtain goods, credit or services under the name of that person.
Identity theft is becoming more of a problem every year, Rowe said. According to the National Treasury Department, the 6,000 cases reported in 2001 was double that reported in 2000.
In order to prevent identity theft, many restaurants only print the last four numbers of a credit card on their receipts. Because some eateries on campus don’t do this, many students are concerned.
“I don’t think they have any regard for students in that manner,” said Kellie Thorne, a junior English major. “I think that they need to do something about that.”
Elizabeth Pedersen, a freshman engineering major, said, “On this campus, if someone wanted to steal your identity, it would be so easy. All they would have to do is get a hold of a class list with your social security number and get a hold of a receipt with your credit card number.”
The university’s frequent use of students’ social security numbers is also risky, Rowe said.
“Your social security number is the worst to give out. That’s the number most identity thieves want,” Rowe said, “And once they get it, it can take years before you clear it all up.”
Students can watch for signs they have been a victim of identity theft such as purchases on their credit card from places they never go, charges on their card from far locations and traffic tickets for citations they didn’t commit.
If a student has been a victim of identity theft, he or she can call their credit card company, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Motor Vehicles to fix the problem, Rowe said.
A way to prevent identity theft is to shred all documents with important information on them, Rowe said.
-lroylance@cc.usu.edu