Re: FirstData/Datacom chip and pin terminal phone charges

[Roger Hayter]

Peter <nos...@nospam9876.com> wrote:

> We have had these for years.
>
> They dial out to authorise the card, using what is obviously a
> built-in modem.
>
> Recently, we found some big charges on our phone bill. The number
> being dialed was 08717111224. Googling on it digs out loads of
> complaints about calls with that caller ID, but several pages on it
> turns out to be the number dialed by the Firstdata terminals. 0871 =
> 10p/minute...
>
> It turns out they make 10p out of every single CC authorisation, but
> that is just a small part. The machine dials out once a month for
> "updates" and these calls can be pretty long. I am looking at a 24
> minute call right now... 4 quid!
>
> After getting a run-around on no less than five 0871 numbers
> (switchboards with long menus and options, all rigged so the selected
> option cannot be entered until one has listened to the entire list) I
> got through to 08717110719 where they told me to, wait for it, plug an
> ethernet cable into the RJ45 connector on the back of it, change some
> config settings, unplug the phone cable and, guess what, ALL the
> charges disappear, AND you get a much faster CC authorisation!
>
> What year is this, and how long has the internet been around?
>
> I wonder how many people know about this... you can walk into a major
> High Street store and their chip and pin machine are also dialing out
> over the phone!

I don't see the legal question. It reflects on the managerial and
technicla competence of the companies in question, certainly.

--
Roger Hayter

[Mark Goodge]

On Fri, 21 Aug 2015 12:10:12 +0100, Peter put finger to keyboard and typed:

>What year is this, and how long has the internet been around?

Reliable Internet accessible from any random location in any random store
has been around for a much shorter length of time than electrnic credit
card terminals. Even now, an analog telephone line is still considerably
more reliable than a typical broadband connection. So a portable modem
contained within a terminal plugged into a telephone jack is, equally, more
reliable than broadband. And, given that it goes directly into the card
processors' central computers, there is no issue with possible interception
while the data passes over the public Internet.

This is changing, of course, and possibly the last few years have crossed
the line into which shop floor Internet is reliable enough (particularly if
also accessed via 4G/4G rather than a wired connection), and encryption
ubiquitous enough, for the Internet to be a better option than direct dial
modems. But don't underestimate the benefits of tried and trusted
technology. The fact that direct dial modems rarely fail to connect and
have no reported incidents of being successfully hacked is good enough
reason for many shops to continue to use them.

>I wonder how many people know about this... you can walk into a major
>High Street store and their chip and pin machine are also dialing out
>over the phone!

I would have thought this is well understood by anyone who runs a business
which involves taking credit card data on the shop floor. It certainly was
when I ran a shop back in the early 90s and we used precisely this
technology for card payments.

Mark
--
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