A plastic bank card is a universal means of payment. It provides round-the-clock access to the money contained in your current account. Plastic cards can be debit and credit. The article will discuss how to protect yourself from fraud.
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The plastic card itself does not contain cash. All of them are on the account of the owner. A piece of plastic is just a means of accessing this money.
On the outside of the card are the details of the owner that the bank needs to identify it and make a decision on the requested operations. To use the card, its physical presence is not necessary. It will be enough to indicate the details.
To date, a lot of ways have been invented to leave a respectable holder of a bank debit or credit card without funds. Various malicious programs are being written. The cardholder’s personal data is stolen. Hacked servers of enterprises and banks. By sending various messages to a mobile phone and due to the gullibility of citizens, criminals gain access to accounts, etc. Bank card fraud is a profitable and low-risk business. And this is because to catch an attacker and prove his guilt is not so simple. Cybercrime in modern society due to the use of information technology for criminal purposes is widespread. It forces card users to become hostages of the situation, and therefore be vulnerable to scammers.
Ways to access cards
Plastic card fraud can occur in one of two ways.
1. Goods are stolen or fake for resale.
2. Using various tricks, attackers gain access to an ATM, account details and pin-code.
ATM or ATM (automated telling (teller) machine) was created to simplify operations on the issuance, receipt, transfer of cash, payment for services and other financial operations, without the participation of an employee of a credit institution. At the same time, you can use these services at any time of the day. Simplicity, convenience and direct access to cash made ATMs popular and popular among the population, and, therefore, among criminals.
Bank card fraud occurs through hacker attacks aimed at ATM. It is also possible to do this by copying information from the magnetic strip of the card, setting traps for banknotes, which leads to the disappearance of money or the issue of not all the requested amount from an ATM.
A lost or stolen plastic card that fell into the hands of fraudsters may threaten its owner with a write-off of all funds in the account. The same applies to a fake bank card, which is made in the name of a specific person, on whose account there are funds.
Types of Card Fraud
Today, it is advisable for every citizen to get acquainted with this information. Plastic card fraud involves many different types of tricks and deceit.
Fake - the manufacture of plastic with identical details of the real card of the real owner. This trick allows you to perform any operation. To save yourself from fakes, the bank establishes protection against the selection of details. The development of methods of stealing money from cards has made this method less profitable. Now an easier option is theft of details.
Phishing is a theft method by which scammers use various communication methods (phone, email, etc.) to contact the card holder on behalf of the bank. Their goal is to find out the confidential data of the owner. Phone phishing is a very common way to steal. So the card holder receives a call, most often a message with information that the payment has been made from the account, you need to pay off the debt, the card is blocked, etc. The call is made automatically and voiced in an electronic voice with frightening information, without specifying data about the financial institution from which the message is received. Then, for more information, you will need to contact the operator. The same text is indicated in SMS and email messages. During a call to the specified number, the operator tries to find out confidential information, which will subsequently allow criminals to empty plastic cards. Skimming fraud allows you to copy data using a special device installed on the ATM.
Theft of card details from the servers of online stores, which are required not to save information about their owner. But this is often not respected. What scammers use successfully.
Sometimes unscrupulous bank employees themselves provide card details to criminals. Or due to the negligence of the staff, this information becomes the property of intruders.
Using special equipment, fraudsters crack a card along with a PIN code while using an ATM using special devices (microcams, on-board keyboards, card readers). Such equipment reads details and entered passwords.
Using fake ATMs also allows emptying plastic cards. Fraud is carried out by the Lebanese noose method. This option allows criminals to take possession of someone else's card. To do this, fraudsters place a piece of film in the slot of the reader, which prevents the card from leaving the hole after the operation is completed. Nearby are attackers offering to enter a pin code, assuring that after this action the card will come out. After unsuccessful attempts, scammers convince the owner to contact the bank the next day, when collectors and engineers will work, and before that time nothing will happen. You can safely leave the card. When the owner leaves the ATM, fraudsters remove the film, card. They withdraw all means.
Credit card fraud also occurs through a CNP transaction, that is, an operation performed on the Internet based on the details obtained. The owner himself and his bank plastic are not involved in this.
Carrying out operations on stolen or lost cards, which occurs in the interval between the indicated events and the plastic blocking. Also, many forgetful people write down their pin code on the card itself, on some piece of paper or in a notebook. When a bag with a wallet is stolen or lost, fraudsters become owners of not only all content, but also money from a personal account.
Acquiring is a way in which a slip is repeated. A change in its content may also be performed. For this, several slips or fingerprints of cards on the imprinter are made on the electronic terminal. This is necessary in order to be able to change the transaction amount or create new payment documents after the customer signs the slip.
A refund of the purchase threatens the cardholder to go negative. To do this, a fraudster, hacker or employee of the trading company where the customer made the purchase carries out a money back operation, which increases the card balance. Then the attacker uses the credited funds. Merchant withdraws refund. After that, the client remains in the red.
What to do when the first signs of fraud are detected?
Payment card fraud is a very common occurrence. Any owner of a plastic device can be his victim. Therefore, at the first suspicion, you must immediately block the card. And in the bank you can write a statement of disagreement with the operation, indicating the reason if this happened without your knowledge.
Sberbank card fraud
Plastic devices of this institution are very often subjected to various attacks by fraudsters. The most common methods of theft are SMS messages with the text that the card is blocked, and to resume functioning, you must call the specified number. Such text notifications can be received by thousands of Sberbank card users. Do not forget that all messages sent by Sberbank come from one number. If the notification is from another addressee, these are criminals.
Sberbank card fraud most often occurs with plastic devices “Master Card Standard” and “Visa Classic”. Therefore, to make purchases from them, especially on the Internet, it is worthwhile in trusted stores about which you can read reviews.
PrivatBank
PrivatBank card fraud is most often carried out using a skimmer. In order to prevent attackers from seeing numbers through a pre-installed camera when entering a PIN code, you need to close the dialed combination with your palm.
Another way is “emergency money”, which allows fraudsters to find out the code that arrived in the SMS message to the card holder, which the account owner himself (without suspecting a trick) dictates by phone. This is a common case when buying in online stores.
Corn Fraud
Criminals often use another interesting way of stealing money, which uses the "Corn" card. Fraud occurs by creating an online store, supposedly from Euroset, where you can make a purchase much cheaper than in the salon. Plus bonuses are awarded. To make an acquisition, the consultant needs to dictate his name, date of birth, card barcode, secret word that came in a text message, that is, data that cannot be said in any case. After that, money is debited from the card account, and the account holder is left without a purchase.
Who will return the stolen money?
The return of funds stolen by scammers occurs after an investigation, which should establish some facts.
1. Is it not the owner himself who spent his savings, and then decided to return them?
2. ATM or bank error?
3. Or is it the tricks of scammers?
If it is established that the charge-off was not due to the fault of the card holder, then the stolen amount is refunded to him. The issuer is obliged to return it, which is usually not in a hurry to do so. The burden of reimbursement rests with the outlet or acquirer. While the participants understand who should recover the losses and who is to blame, the cardholder can expect their funds for a very long time. In order not to delay the reimbursement, the regulatory system is the payment system, which forms uniform rules for all participants, the timing and behavior algorithm.
Account Theft Investigation Process
Credit card fraud, as well as debit plastic devices, occurs by the same methods. This means that the investigation to identify the perpetrator of the theft occurs according to a single scheme.
At first, the acquirer (the owner of ATM) represents the deducted amount, which the holder disputes. The issuer (bank) requires documents from the acquirer. They must confirm the legitimacy of debiting funds. Thirty days are allotted for this. During the specified period, the acquirer provides the requested documents, and the account holder is familiarized with them. If the client agrees and confirms the fact of the operation, the issue is considered resolved, and the investigation is terminated. If the acquirer has provided documents drawn up with violations or has neglected the deadlines, the amount is debited from his account in favor of the bank (issuer), after which the withdrawal is justified and the reason for lawfulness is indicated. At this stage, the money is not returned to the owner. After being debited, within forty-five days, if no actions were taken by the acquirer, the stolen amount is credited to the account of the payment card holder.
There are situations when the owner of the ATM did not properly respond to the issuer's demand for documents, since he believes that neither he nor the outlet are to blame for the theft, therefore, they are not obliged to be responsible for this. In this case, the investigation is conducted in a different way.
An amount similar to stolen funds is debited from the issuer's account by the acquirer. This is documented. After which the issuer must prove his innocence to the acquirer. If this fails, the ATM owner returns the stolen amount to the card holder.
There are times when the acquirer’s arguments are unconvincing or do not fully prove his case. In such situations, the responsibility for the theft lies with several parties to the process, and the investigation takes place through a pre-arbitration settlement. For this, the issuer submits an application for consideration of the case within sixty days from the date of the chargeback. In the process, the acquirer and issuer act, who prove their case by bringing arguments and evidence. If the parties have reached an agreement, the payment of losses occurs equally, if not, the case is referred to the arbitration committee. It represents a commission in the payment system. The committee considers all the arguments and evidence of the parties, and then draws a conclusion. The decision of the arbitration committee is binding. If the parties disagree with the decision, an appeal is filed, but the amount of theft in this case should be at least five thousand dollars.
ATM Fraud Investigation Process
Payment card fraud related to transactions conducted through ATMs goes through other stages of the investigation. If ATM does not issue funds, the issuer sends a request to the acquirer, who must check the possibility of technical failures in servicing a particular account or the presence of an incorrect distribution of banknotes. This situation is not fraud.
In the event that a fraudulent operation, for example, cash withdrawal, has been carried out using an ATM, one issuer or the acquirer will participate in the investigation. The guilt of the cardholder and points of compromise are being clarified. The issuer bears responsibility for most of these cases, so he foresees such risks in order to compensate the theft to the cardholder with compensation from the insurance company.
Fighting banks with fraud
Bank card fraud has led many agencies to fight criminals. But they do not always cope with this successfully.
For example, to combat skimming, they most often use protection of the CPK + technology from TMD Security. This company is a leader among creators of ATM protection against skimming. The success of the technology is explained by the fact that special protection is installed from the inside, is suitable for all types of ATMs and is easily mounted.
The transition of ATMs to Microsoft Windows operating systems, the Intel base using TCP / IP protocols, on the contrary, significantly increases the risk of attacks. For this purpose, scammers carry out targeted (targeted) attacks.
Now more and more often criminals resort to the help of various programs to gain access to payment cards. They are entered into ATMs. After which the program itself will collect all the necessary information about the operations. Such an ATM is no different from a normal ATM. Therefore, it is impossible for an ordinary person to recognize him.
Bank card fraud can be prevented by installing special security tools on the ATM. They are an alarm on the doors of the service area and a program that provides information security.
How to protect yourself from scammers?
Credit card or debit plastic device fraud is currently very common. Therefore, measures must be taken to minimize the risk of theft of funds. To do this, observe the following rules.
1. Do not tell anyone your PIN code, do not write it on a card, in a notebook, etc.
2. Do not transfer your card to another person.
3. Make purchases in trusted stores.
4. Cover the keyboard with your hand while entering a personal code.
5. Do not tell the bank details of the card to imaginary employees.
6. Do not tell the password that came in the message on the phone.
7. In the event of loss or loss of a card, it is necessary to have a number on your mobile phone by which it can be urgently blocked.
Currently, new types of bank card fraud and anti-theft methods are being invented. Therefore, in addition to the precautionary measures provided by the issuer, the trading company or the acquirer, it is necessary to observe all the protection requirements themselves.