Check Receipt for FACTA Violations
Growing number FACTA violations could lead to identity theft…
Since January 1, 2007 alone, approximately 100 class action lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, have been filed in the U.S. FACTA, the law enacted by Congress to combat identity theft, limits the number of credit card digits displayed on a receipt to five and prohibits showing the credit card expiration date. FACTA requires any business “that maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information, or any compilation of consumer information, derived from consumer reports for a business purpose” to “properly dispose of such information or compilation.”
FACTA was designed to cut down on the incidences of identity theft by, among other methods, restricting the ability of thieves to go “dumpster diving” for valuable consumer information contained in discarded business records.
The lawsuits have been filed in jurisdictions across the country, including in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas, but the overwhelming majority have been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuits that have been filed thus far allege willful noncompliance. The targeted businesses: (1) are in the retail business; (2) issue machine-printed credit card receipts; and (3) allegedly violated FACTA. The alleged violations could lead to potentially massive damage awards.
Offending company receipts show unlawful information on them, as recently as this week. The receipts are the evidence needed to back up the lawsuits that claim the companies knew that they were putting thousands of consumers at risk. It is estimated that 3% of corporate America is breaking the law by including the banned data on their receipts.
The bottom line is, check your receipts and make sure they don’t show more information than they should. Inform the merchant if you find a violation or contact a lawyer.
