Receipts of Colonial Cash transactions will no longer display students’ GWorld card numbers in an effort to protect against theft, University officials announced last week.

The University will begin a push to equip all Colonial Cash partners with the software necessary to mask the numbers printed on the receipts of purchases made with the card. Currently, the only vendors to block numbers on receipts are the J Street venues and University offices, which black out all but the last two digits, and those retailers already using the Blackboard software, which mask all but the last four. The University began using the Blackboard software to manage vendors’ accounts last semester.

Officials said the change will make it harder for perpetrators to steal students’ numbers and make charges, but students must still be vigilant to protect against other types of misuse.

Deborah Wright, director of the GWorld card program, said most reported incidents of GWorld misuse are a result of users’ negligence.

“Removing the entire GWorld card number from the receipt should eliminate one way in which fraud had occurred,” said Wright. “However, most fraudulent use occurs from cardholders losing their card and then someone finding the card and using it prior to the cardholder suspending their card online.”

Wright encouraged students to check their transactions regularly online (http://gworld.gwu.edu/ColonialCash/) and immediately report any suspected fraudulent activity to the GWorld office. The move comes after a CVS employee was arrested last month for stealing more than $1,300 from students’ Colonial Cash accounts by copying down their numbers and manually entering them into the card reader. The thief was able to make false transactions using the numbers and then take the equivalent amount of cash from the register.

Dolores Stafford, chief of University Police, welcomed the new adjustments, saying the change could potentially go a long way toward combating fraud.

“Students don’t always safeguard their receipts, and if someone else has that receipt they could potentially misuse it,” Stafford said. “The fact that the number will no longer be on there would be very beneficial to all the students who use (the card).”

Stafford said a GWorld card is just the same as a credit card, and that students need to be careful about who has access to their numbers.

“If someone gets your credit card number, they can misuse it,” Stafford said. “The same is true for a GWorld. Students need to treat their GWorlds just as they would a Master Card or a Visa.”

Some victims of GWorld fraud applauded the masking of GWorld card numbers but said it would not alleviate all of their security concerns.

John Woodside, a freshman who had about $200 stolen from his account from the CVS employee, said the move is long overdue.

“It won’t take care of everything, but it will help,” said Woodside. “I used to work at a restaurant and they would block all but the last four digits for credit cards, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t do the same thing with GWorld.”

Sophomore Analiese Bendorf, who had $20 stolen from her account by the CVS employee, said that while she supports the move, the system is still open to manipulation.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction … but I don’t know if it’s a complete solution,” said Bendorf. “Someone can still write down your number when you hand them your card.”

Officials hope to implement the changes by the end of the month.