Quote Originally Posted by rahul_k View Post
Thanks, this seems to be a very useful and robust service for security purpose.

But suppose that there is a merchant with whom the cardholder has not done a transaction before. And with that merchant, no virtual CC number has been set up. In such a case, if the real card related details are stolen, would it be possible to commit fraud to set up a virtual CC number with that merchant and carry out fraud transactions ?

May the answer to this has been provided above, but was a bit confused.

Though this virtual CC number would definitely reduce the chances of fraud, especially those where there is a chance for merchant conspiracy.

Also, are these virtual CC numbers in application only for online merchants or can they be used for swipe transactions ?
No. A merchant in possession of your physical card details cannot create a virtual CC. It is created by logging on to your Citi account either using a menu option on the Citi site or you can install an app on your computer that accesses it. In either case you must enter your ID and password. As in all internet activities, keep these secure.

Virtual CCs create a unique CC number, CSV, and expiry date. You can use these for an online or phone order but of course you can't use these in a swipe (card present) transaction. I still do not use CCs or Debit cards in restaurants where the card is out of my sight due to card skimming fraud. It would be nice if CC issuers would provide a secondary card just for these sorts of uses where you could set the secondary card limit to what you need when you go out or even zero when not in use it just for extra protection.