According to the CBC Article, Toronto police are tightlipped about the details of the fraud that stolen wireless payment terminals are being used to commit. They are afraid to educate the public in case someone gets the idea to give it a try themselves. That’s all the public has been waiting for – a criminal idea to implement!
The Mobilesyrup article talks more about the thefts themselves and less about the potential use of a stolen terminal. (I don’t think its likely that the machines will end up for sale on Kijiji!)
I will take the risk of giving you a criminal idea to implement and drop a couple of security hints to retailers with wireless (and wired!) payment terminals.
- don’t let people mess with them. keep them away from general public (except when taking their payments of course!).
- lock them down if you can. you don’t want somebody to substitute them with an “altered” device.
- don’t trust unrequested “service” personnel showing up to work on, or replace your payment terminals. Ask for ID, get a copy of ID maybe, and verify with your service organization’s office.
- regularly inspect your payment devices. Check the serial number and general appearance.
- educate your staff about the risks. you can’t be there all the time!
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