Feds Catch Carder
“Carders” are the people who test and sell credit card details (most likely phished) to other individuals who carry out the actual credit card fraud. Carders are the most visible of criminals who distribute and sell stolen data to whoever is willing to take it and burn it onto a white card or make purchases over the internet. “Dumps” is a term for the batches stolen credit card data they buy and sell.
Computerworld reports:
“Tony Perez III, of Hammond, Indiana, pleaded guilty to the charges on April 4. In his plea, Perez said he sold counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information. Perez found customers through criminal ‘carding forums,’ Internet discussion groups set up to aid in the buying and selling of stolen financial account information and related services.”
“During a June 2010 search of Perez’s residence, Secret Service agents found 20,987 stolen credit card accounts on his computers, in his email messages, in an online account and on counterfeit credit cards he was in the process of manufacturing, according to court documents. Credit card companies have reported more than US$3.1 million in fraudulent charges associated with those accounts, court documents said.”
Carding is a full time profession for thousands of hackers worldwide. Retailers’, banks’, credit card processors’, and many other corporations’ databases often contain millions of credit card numbers, and are targeted in “advanced persistent threats.” Any entity that accepts credit cards online or in the physical world is a ripe target for fraud.
It’s in the retailer’s best interest to put online fraud prevention measures in place to thwart credit card fraud use on their sites. This not only helps them keep their chargebacks and fees low, but it also protects their brand reputation with their loyal customers. But how can retailers detect when fraudsters are stealing from their websites in the first place?
Before verifying identity and credit information, first make sure that the computer, tablet or smartphone connecting to the site is not a known fraudulent device – one used to steal from your business in the past, or from other online businesses.
Would you like to know if the device is acting suspicious such as masking its IP address or constantly changing its characteristics between transactions? Is it opening an excessive number of new accounts, or are new countries suddenly accessing your customer’s existing accounts?
There are many indicators of risk and companies like Oregon-based iovation Inc. helps online businesses set up fraud and risk rules in advance so that as transactions come in, the rules run and all checks in a fraction of a second. This device identification service can stop the transaction right then and there.
Carders are just one piece of the cybercrime puzzle. Having a defense-in-depth approach to fraud prevention is essential. And sharing fraud intelligence with other businesses can only help you catch more fraud, and meanwhile, take more business with confidence.
Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation, discusses another databreach on Good Morning America.
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