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Gains for Credit Card ThievesIf you were to ask a hacker why they have hacked into large companies such as TK Maxx you shouldn’t be surprised if the answer is, “because that is where the money is.” This statement was first made by Willie Sutton a major criminal who robbed banks. The money is in these companies’ credit card numbers that they hold on file for the transactions they process. The numbers are what the criminal element uses to start on a major card fraud scheme. Some hackers will create viruses to hack into the PC’s and get the information. Once the fraudsters’ phish the information they can then hand it over to their second string. These viruses can be used in several of the big retailer’s databases. By targeting the bigger retailers they get more data than a smaller place. There are some drawbacks to the whole hacker scheme though, thank goodness. If the scam or virus doesn’t run right the hacker can end up wasting a lot of time. However, they only need one large retailer to get millions of pounds stolen. It is not clear what happen at TK Maxx, but hackers did get into the database and managed to keep the access for almost two years. The company has tried to play the breach as small, by saying that two thirds of the information they received with hacking is expired. There were about 45 million debit and credit cards in the database though. The US police have been able to charge six people in Florida with use on the credit card numbers stolen from TK Maxx. The arrests have not gotten the hackers though. The criminal element is huge and divided. Those who spend the money are not the ones behind the scheme. There are those with the hacking, with the credit card data and then those who launder the cash. There are about three different branches or more in one scheme. The larger issue is that the hackers may have only gotten rid of the numbers by selling them after they hacked in, so they are almost untraceable. Viruses or phishing will grab about ten thousand or more credit card numbers and then disappear. The fact that this much is stolen is hard to believe. What is harder still is that the gang will actually sort through the information. Even a mass selling such as the TK Maxx has not lowered the price for the data. It is still expensive to buy, but then I guess the rewards are high for the criminals. These online sites still have about the same price for the account details as when they started. There will always be a huge amount of data for the credit card thieves and identity theft that occurs because these sites can’t be stopped. The only thing clear about the TK Maxx scheme is that the hackers didn’t get the information all at once. They got it over a period of time, which could maximize what they made. The statistics say that if all the numbers were sold they would make the best profit of all the gang schemes. It is hard to find the culprits, but monitoring the chat rooms and bulletin boards has helped. Data has showed that if the card has a security code with the data it is worth 3 pounds. The sad truth is there is a market for anything that you could want. When selling credit card numbers with the CVV number, pin, limit, name and home address the hacker can get 9 pounds for that data. TK Maxx is not sure what information they have lost and the data makes the information very valuable for the thieves. Even smaller data that could have been accessed could bring a tidied profit to the entire scheme. With more and more organised groups out there more details will begin to appear. They will start to trade them for other things like Paypal or eBay. Earnings in Paypal or eBay tend to accumulate over a long period of time rather than taking it out. This will lead to more problems. The internet sites like those mentioned above will be harder to claim against. If Paypal is accessed you could lose your money never to get it back. It is even easier than a bank account. The worst is if your Paypal account is hacked you could end up losing money from the bank account as that is directly linked. You need to really protect yourself in the information you give out to avoid issues. If you aren’t careful where you spend the money or how you protect your computer you are set up for a criminal. Even big companies that supposedly have firewalls are being hacked so beware. Back To Financial News May 2008 Are air miles credit cards right for you? |