Verified by Visa - payment site is asking for social security number
I've wanted to pay a merchant in the European Union.
We've done business with that merchant for over 10 years and they are absolutely trustworthy.
They handle their online credit card payment service via the payment provider Wirecard, also a big and trustworthy player.
However, on my recent order when I proceeded to the checkout page the following screen was presented:
They wanted me to enter the last 6 digits of my social security number.
I've never seen anything like this and aborted the payment.
I've contacted the merchant who in turn told me that they have no control over the payment process since it is handled by Wirecard.
Nevertheless they have forwarded my query to Wirecard and received the following answer:
This is a 3D-secure / Verified by Visa query from the customer's card issuing
bank. The procedure of this query differs between banks.
For most European banks, a TAN code is sent to the customer's mobile phone, which must then be entered.
This US bank appears to require the Social Security Number for this procedure.
We have no influence on the type of the 3-D Secure query.
This is handled by the customer's bank.
I've directly contacted my bank and also Visa.
Both denied being responsible for asking social security numbers.
So what is going on here?
Is asking for 6 digits (out of 9!) of a card holder's social security number a common way for banks to implement the 3D-secure verification?
Or is this some kind of fraud?
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That looks like a phishing popup to me but it is possibly legitimate.
While I do not care for VISA's "Verified by Visa" implementation, the individual bank does have the ability to request the information.
As there is no information on the particular merchant in your question, I have no way of tracing network requests for the site you are at but I would recommend following the guidelines from VISA posted below and not entering that information. Use a different payment method such as Paypal (as long as you know you are at the correct site) if you can.
Depending on the browser you are using, you can additionally check the certificate on the site you are at. To do so, click the lock to the left of the address bar, then click certificates to make sure the Common Name(CN) matches the merchant's site.
Verified by Visa information
To protect yourself online, visit only trusted merchants and avoid sites that ask you to provide unnecessary information, such as your Social Security number. Never send payment information by email.
Check to make sure that transactions occur in a secure environment by looking for the padlock icon at the bottom of your browser. Any website URL where you enter sensitive information should begin with . Visa Checkout also provides added security by offering advanced authentication tools when you use Visa Checkout to shop online.
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