Paying by card over the phone safe?

[Z064life]

Hi All,
So I need to pay the council something, and the payment is done over the phone. I have no issue with this, but how do I know this is secure?

My concern is surely the recipient of my card details could go of and use them to purchase stuff?

Should I look at alternatives?

[Z064life]

In theory there's nothing someone using the details online to pay for goods right?

[Z064life]

romeogolf said:

If the person on the other end of the phone took your details and used them, they would only be able to make another online or over-the-phone transaction which is recorded as "cardholder not present". The card slip/receipt would state "no cardholder verification".

In these situations, if an unrecognised transaction appeared on your statement, you are protected as there was no verification of your details. Essentially the risk falls to the merchant and the card provider. Usually, the card provider places the funds back in your account (they may do this under the 'pending transactions' label) and investigates before refunding. I'm sure there are rules about the time limits for this.

From a merchant perspective, the funds get taken away from us immediately in a charge-back, and it's only if we can supply evidence to support the transaction being genuine that if would be allowed to continue.

My advice is to always use a credit card rather than debit card where possible, so 'held' funds are unlikely to cause charges/issues while the investigation completes.

Thanks but when you make a purchase online, there's no check if you are the card holder? You can even make billing and shipping address different,