💳a card🔑a key👛in a wallet🔍look closer🧑tell a grown-up
A card number is like a key.
The big ideaA card number is like a key. Keep it safe and tell a grown-up.
How it works
Card fraud is when someone uses a card, or its numbers, without being allowed.
A card number works like a key: it opens things for whoever holds it. So it stays in a wallet, and we never read it out, post it, or send a photo of the card.
A skimmer is a small fake part on a card machine that copies the numbers from a card when it goes in.
Paying by card is normal, and most machines and shops are fine. The care is a habit, like looking both ways before you cross.
Real machine or odd machine?If a machine looks odd.
Example 1: The pump that looked odd
Idris sees a crooked slot that wiggles, a keypad sitting high, and tape with a torn sticker.
He tugs Dad's sleeve before the card goes in.
Dad says, "Good eyes. We will not use this one," and tells the person at the till.
Example 2: A charge nobody knows
Aunt Folake finds a charge on her statement that she did not make.
She calls the number on the back of her card, the real one.
The card company stops the old card and sends a new one.
Example 3: A shop nobody knows
A pop-up from a shop nobody knows shouts about a tiny price and says to type a card number now.
Dad closes it. "We stay with shops we trust," he says.
A grown-up types a card number, only at a shop the family trusts.
A pop-up that wants a card number.
Words to know
skimmer
A fake part on a card machine that copies card numbers.
statement
The list of everything a card paid for.
card company
The company that gives out the card and can stop it.
Watch out
No single sign is proof, because a machine can look odd just from being old. Ask the person at the till to check.
Never use a number from a text, a pop-up or a stranger. The real number is on the back of the card.
Do not pull a cover off a machine or push a card into a wiggly slot.
You are never in trouble for telling, or for noticing.
Try it
What does a card number work like?
A card slot wiggles. What do you do?
Which number does a grown-up call about a strange charge?
Why does a grown-up read the card statement?
Answers: 1. A key · 2. Do not use it, tell a grown-up · 3. The one on the back of the card · 4. To spot a charge nobody knows
Try at homeAsk a grown-up to show you how they read the card statement, and look at a few lines together.
For grown-upsShow your child how you read a card statement, and look at a few lines together. Say aloud how you check a machine before you use it.
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