As More And More People Switch Over To Plastic Money, Tech-Savvy Conmen Are Finding Newer Ways To Rob Unsuspecting Credit Card Users
Chennai: The busting of a city-based gang that forged identities to acquire 70 credit cards and liberally draw cash to the tune of Rs 65 lakh from banks highlights the great risk that credit card users are exposed to.
The risk is threepronged, according to the bank fraud wing of the city police. One, when you lose your credit card, it may be misused by some crook. He or she can then use the card to withdraw cash and buy valuables.
Two, when you throw away an expired credit card, the crook could take the credit card and decode the secret numbers on the magnetic strip. Along with the name and the card number, he or she can prepare a forged credit card and encash it.
Three, is when credit cards are cloned. Sometimes, employees at shops swipe the card in a separate machine to decode the details of the magnetic strip in the original credit card, before swiping on the actual machine. In some places, the secret personal identification number is noted discreetly by hidden cameras.
The cloning involves a process called skimming in which information on the card is recorded on a device known as a skimmer. Skimming is turning out to be a huge menace across the world. “You are at maximum risk when you hand your credit card to a waiter or cashier to pay your bill in any shopping mall or restaurants. The skimmer could be tucked away in someone’s pocket and your secrets could be read in a flash.”
Police begin investigation into such white collar offences in a syatematic manner. Thanks to the availability of the voluminous data, they can now easily work out how a crime is committed. Sometimes, investigating agencies manage to nab criminals using close circuit televisions fixed in shopping malls and ATMs.
“Most of the cases are exposed through bank officials. Based on the information given by them, the police narrow down on culprits,” a police officer said. Balakrishnan, who works as a direct agent for a private bank in Chennai, said, “We approach people based on their profile to provide them a credit card. Sometimes to achieve the target, we are helpless and send some of the documents to the bank even though we knew that the documents are fake. We do this just for the sake of the commission.”
The private banks have snapped the dealership of many agents, after we exposed the their connivance with the fraudulent customers, a senior police officer said. The city police’s bank fraud wing has received at least 180 complaints from various banks against the fraudsters in 2006 and 2007.
In the case of credit card fraud, the bank fraud wing has received more than 60 complaints in the past three years and in most of these cases, the police have arrested the culprits, police sources said. CAUTION IS THE KEY Credit and debit card fraud is a multi-million dollar industry worldwide.
Fraudsters in UK alone netted £504.8m in 2006. Here’s how you can keep your cards safe Be alert whenever someone wants to take your card out of your sight, as in petrol pumps Never let your card out of sight and check receipts and bank statements thoroughly. A card swiped in India can be duplicated in the US and perhaps used there Your credit card receipt is often enough to reproduce a replica. Customers in the US are advised to shred all their card receipts
You are most at risk when the fraudster can easily guess your card PIN number so avoid using easily traceable facts about you as your PIN number. If you have multiple cards, have a different PIN for each one SKIMMER A ‘skimmer’ is a battery operated magnetic device, hardly three inches long, which can copy the details of the magnetic strip on your credit/debit card, PAN card or driving license to reproduce a cloned card Most skimming has been known to occur at retail outlets: bars, restaurants, shopping complexes and petrol stations. Sometimes the store employees (waiters, cashiers) are involved in the racket
The skimmer may either use your data on his own or sell it off to a bigger racket, which may even use it in another country. A single skimmer can copy the data of 32,000 cards GONE IN A
FLASH: YOU GO SHOPPING... AND GET A SHOCKER
A Selvaraj TNN
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