Carders - who is this? How to steal money from plastic cards

After the introduction of plastic cards, people breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone had a hope that wages will now never disappear from their pockets in an unknown direction. If a person does not tell anyone the PIN of the card and does not pay it in places that have a dubious reputation, the money will not be lost anywhere. It would seem that everything is fine. But this is far from the case. Cases of Internet fraud are very common. And to avoid them, you need to be extremely cautious. Today our article is devoted to the following question: "Carders - who is this?".

What it is?

Carding is a kind of fraud in which certain actions are performed with a plastic card of any person without his consent. Is it developed in Russia? According to law enforcement agencies, on the territory of our country, there is practically no carderism and hacking. However, in the late nineties they flourished. Do you want to know carders? Who is it? Scammers, specializing in withdrawing money from someone else's plastic cards. Today carding is developing in Western countries, in places where there are a lot of entertaining establishments and resorts. Such actions fall under Article 159 of the Criminal Code "Fraud". But usually such cases do not reach the court.

How do scammers retrieve requisites

Details of plastic cards are extracted by hacker methods. That is, hack Internet shops, payment systems, personal computers, stealing confidential information. To obtain the necessary information carders actively use and phishing fraud, in which people in many different ways are misled and forced to register on fake sites. In other words, users voluntarily transfer confidential information to third parties.

Learn more about phishing

First, to pay for a card purchase or service in online stores, etc., in fact, it is not so safe. Unfair employees who have access to the data that a person drives on the site when buying, can use them. For this, fictitious Internet firms are created. Unsuccessful users once receive "joyful" news that they have paid for their delivery of a ton of bananas from South Africa or something like that. In other words, a fictitious company sells "air", and the real ones are removed from the account for its payment.

Such schemes are quite common, so paying online is safer with payment systems than using your card data. And scammers are not only in online stores, they can be found in popular social networks. For example, some time ago the service "PhotoStrana", which belongs to people from one post-Soviet republic, fell into the category of potentially dangerous. There is a large number of cases when users of this social network bought the domestic currency of the service or paid some services with a plastic card, and after a while they started withdrawing funds without their knowledge. Money was spent on paying bonuses in games or buying any views, impressions and other services provided by this social network.

Forgery sites

The most common variant of phishing is the fake sites. Let's say that certain craftsmen create a website that is very similar to an online store where people pay with their cards. At one point, a mail to the user receives a letter in which the "administration" of the store or other service asks to go through the link and perform some manipulation. You need this in order to confirm the security settings, or use some other plausible excuse.

The user goes by the link, gets on the page, which is very similar to the design of the site, where he used to buy something. Then he enters his personal data there. Now scammers can make purchases on the Internet using the user's card. The application for fraud is useless: it's almost impossible to find someone who turns out such schemes. Secure yourself can be quite simple. Do not jump on questionable links. A serious organization never sends such letters to its users. In addition, you should regularly update your browser. In all popular browsers are high-quality anti-phishing programs, which are regularly improved.

VISHING

This is another way to steal money from an account. The scheme is quite simple. An unfamiliar person calls a bank customer and appears to be an employee. Next, the client is offered in the phone's tone mode to enter personal data supposedly to restore the system after a "malfunction." A trusting person instantly places his card numbers and PIN-codes. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the fact that it needs to be done as quickly as possible. Scammers do not give time for reflection. This makes people forget about security and do what they ask, money at stake. After the person discloses his data, the polite "employee of the bank" is forgiven. And for a certain time, as a rule, a small one, the funds from the card disappear. It also falls under Article 159 of the Criminal Code "Fraud". But a cheated person does not help much. To file a complaint with the police is not useless. It is almost impossible to find a scam.

Skimming

This is one of the types of carding. Skimmer is a device with which you can intercept the necessary information from magnetic tapes on plastic cards. Officially, these devices appeared in 2002 in Europe. Perhaps they were created much earlier, but until this year there was no information about skimmers.

The device consists of two parts. The first is a counterfeit receiver that accepts bank cards. He is secured on an ATM. It is used to read information from cards. If a person has been using the services of a certain ATM for a long time, it will be easy for him to detect a fake that has appeared. But the people who came to him for the first time, it's difficult to do. Therefore, this method is popular in places where large masses of people move.

How to protect yourself from this kind of fraud? You need to carefully study the terminal for bank cards. After the card is inserted into the card reader, a photo of the ATM appears on the panel. It is necessary to compare this picture with an ATM, if differences are found, it is more reasonable to refrain from carrying out operations.

The second part of the skimmer is a fake keyboard. It is needed to obtain information about the PIN code. The keyboard has a built-in microchip, thanks to which SMS messages are sent to the scam phone. Identify a fake is not so difficult. Such a keyboard will be highlighted on the plane of the ATM. When a person enters his PIN there, he immediately sends scammers via SMS.

What Carders Do with Information Received

After the necessary information comes to scammers, they record the information received on another plastic card. Usually it does not have any logos and exterior design at all. Such cards are called "white plastic". With their help, attackers withdraw money from any ATM. In rare cases, complete falsification of existing bank cards is made, which are used to pay for goods in stores. This is one of the schemes that scammers use. Plastic cards of this kind are usually used once, then they are thrown away.

What countries are popular with carders?

Carders attract highly developed countries with advanced computer technologies. It's easier to collect the necessary information on the Internet and to design the necessary devices. The democratic structure of the country, where human rights are actively promoted, is also important. If the carder is caught by the police, it will be easier for him to get out of punishment or get off with a minimum. In third world countries, it is rather difficult to engage in carding.

First, there is a problem with computer technology, and sometimes it's even difficult to find a good Internet. Secondly, in such a country if a carder is caught, then the punishment will be severe. For this reason, scammers prefer Western Europe and North America. The most dangerous are the settlements with popular resorts and the presence of numerous entertainment establishments.

Safety precautions

The answer to the question of carders - who it is, we already know. But how to save your money and not become a victim of scammers? To begin with, the same skimming begins to slowly disappear. Banks try to take care of their customers and regularly update and update the equipment. Now popular are ATMs that have built-in protection against skimmers. It works as follows. A plastic card is accepted by the ATM, and then the device is partially pushed out. Then it is accepted by the ATM completely. This sequence disrupts the work of skimmers, and they can not fully read the data.

It is recommended to use ATMs that are located directly next to the bank. It is desirable that there are many CCTV cameras around. As mentioned above, you should carefully examine the ATM from the outside. If something seemed suspicious, it would be wiser to go elsewhere. The safest time to withdraw money is from 9 am to 11 pm. Usually in this interval ATMs are checked by employees and police officers.

Security on the Internet

So, carders - who is this? Scammers, whose goal is to withdraw money from plastic cards of people by any available means. As for security on the Internet, you should carefully store your personal information. Never and never send them to anyone or send them by e-mail. Also, one should refrain from introducing personal data on questionable sites. A serious organization or payment system will never ask the user to send or place passwords or PIN codes anywhere in plain text.