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Sir,

The cover story, `Bang goes your buck', in eWorld dated October 30, by Paromita Pain, was interesting and thought provoking.

On credit card use, the story talks of memorising the card verification value (CVV) number and sticking a small opaque sticker.

This is not clear to me.

Normally the cardholder is informed only about the PIN and he is advised to memorise this number and destroy it.

But the CVV number is not readable (with the naked eye) for the cardholder and it is contained in one of the three tracks in the magnetic strip at the back of the credit card.

If we stick a sticker, this will mask the magnetic strip, making it all unusable.

The swiping machine/ATM would not be able to read the card if it is inserted in the slot (because the readers are so sensitive that even a small bend/extra lining in the card at the back or front of the card would make it unreadable). Please clarify this point.

S.Raghunathan

Madurai

Dear reader,

We thank you for writing to us. In response to your query, Pradeep Akkunoor, Director, Indiaforensic Consultancy Services, Pune, has forwarded a link, along with an image of the credit card, about the CVV number. It can be looked up at http://www.sti.nasa.gov/cvv.html

The CVV number is visible below the magnetic tape line at the back of the credit card number.

We hope that this will be of use to you.

eWorld Team

More Stories on : Letters | Security | Credit Cards & Debit Cards | Internet

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