The year began with all manner
of dramas including scamming innocent Nigerians of their hard-earned money. A
Nigerian business analyst has done well to call the attention of the public to
a new POS scam that many are blindly falling victim to.
Read it before
you fall, victim, because these days, most people pay with POS than with
physical cash even in stores and supermarkets.
“So there’s a
POS scam going on (not sure it’s new) with some vendors. You finish your
purchase and present your ATM card for payment. Once it shows APPROVED, they’ll
remove your card without letting it print out a receipt, hence, the POS will
revert to DECLINED. If you complain, they’ll tell you to contact your bank,
that they’ll reverse the payment. Because that’s the general expectation,
anyone nearby (even other customers) will join them in saying the same thing.”
“Once you fall for that scam
and pay again, your money is gone. The bank/merchant will reverse the money,
but not to your account. It goes to the vendor’s account. You’ll just waste
your time going back and forth between your bank and the vendor. This has happened
to me 3 times. The first 2 times, I didn’t bother because the money wasn’t
material.”
This third one is the straw
that’ll break the camel’s back. According to my bank, the merchant refused to
refund me because they claim to have already reversed the money. Since the
reversal can’t be traced to my account, my bank is following up to find a
solution. So, to recap, if your transaction shows DECLINED and debits you, your
money will be reversed to your account. If it 1st shows ‘Approved’ then
‘Declined’, the money will be reversed to the vendor’s account.”
“You won’t get your money back without a fight. Be guided. As
@oderathekid advised, when you’re done putting your pin, hold the POS until it
shows you approved and prints the first receipt. When you put your pin and they
immediately ask you to give them the POS, don’t listen to them. Protect your
money.”
