Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
My stolen credit card details were used 4,500 miles away. I tried to find out how it happened
When cybersecurity reporter Danny Palmer found his card was apparently used on another continent, he set out to discover more.
On a Thursday back in February I was relaxing and watching TV when my evening was interrupted by the ping of a text message from my bank.
"You will shortly receive an SMS to confirm recent activity on your card."
I was puzzled. I certainly hadn't made any strange or unexpected purchases that day, so what was this about? About 30 seconds later, I received my answer in a second text message.
It said my credit card details had been used less than a minute before to try to make a payment of £108 at a store with an unfamiliar name.
A quick search online revealed it to be a supermarket in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname – a small country on the north-eastern coast of South America, bordered by Brazil, Guyana and French Guiana. That's quite a long way from my home in London, so I was pretty sure I hadn't popped into that store to pick anything up in the last 60 seconds.
The alert asked me to confirm the transaction by replying with 'Yes' or 'No'. It did cross my mind that perhaps this was a double- or triple-bluff scam and that by responding to an unexpected text message, I would be making a big mistake. Just in case, I chose to phone the bank instead.
They confirmed that yes, someone had attempted to use my card details over 4,500 miles away from London – but the attempted payment was blocked as suspicious, so no money was stolen.
I cancelled my card and ordered a new one as the recommended safety precaution, given someone else had my details. But as a reporter I was left wondering how did this happen?
How was it that my bank details were somehow stolen, passed onto someone on the other side of the world and almost successfully used at what looked to be a small retailer in Suriname?
Credit cards are a solution - and part of the problem
Debit and credit cards are a part of everyday life that we don't think about, but not so long ago they would have felt like a strange concept to those using physical currency to buy things. The first UK credit card was issued in 1966, while the first debit card didn't arrive in the UK until 1987.
Now, there are over 51 million debit cardholders in the UK, accounting for 96% of adults, while over 32 million UK adults have a credit card. According to the trade association UK Finance, total spending on credit and debit cards accounted for over £800 billion during 2018, with over 20 billion transactions over the course of the year.
Such is the increased popularity of using card payments – helped by online shopping and the ability to make contactless payments in stores – that it's overtaken cash as the most common form of payment in the UK, and the number of card payments is still growing.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.zdnet.com/article/my-stolen-credit-card-details-were-used-4500-miles-away-i-tried-to-find-out-how-it-happened
#stolen #creditcard #details #story
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
📡@NoGoolag
When cybersecurity reporter Danny Palmer found his card was apparently used on another continent, he set out to discover more.
On a Thursday back in February I was relaxing and watching TV when my evening was interrupted by the ping of a text message from my bank.
"You will shortly receive an SMS to confirm recent activity on your card."
I was puzzled. I certainly hadn't made any strange or unexpected purchases that day, so what was this about? About 30 seconds later, I received my answer in a second text message.
It said my credit card details had been used less than a minute before to try to make a payment of £108 at a store with an unfamiliar name.
A quick search online revealed it to be a supermarket in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname – a small country on the north-eastern coast of South America, bordered by Brazil, Guyana and French Guiana. That's quite a long way from my home in London, so I was pretty sure I hadn't popped into that store to pick anything up in the last 60 seconds.
The alert asked me to confirm the transaction by replying with 'Yes' or 'No'. It did cross my mind that perhaps this was a double- or triple-bluff scam and that by responding to an unexpected text message, I would be making a big mistake. Just in case, I chose to phone the bank instead.
They confirmed that yes, someone had attempted to use my card details over 4,500 miles away from London – but the attempted payment was blocked as suspicious, so no money was stolen.
I cancelled my card and ordered a new one as the recommended safety precaution, given someone else had my details. But as a reporter I was left wondering how did this happen?
How was it that my bank details were somehow stolen, passed onto someone on the other side of the world and almost successfully used at what looked to be a small retailer in Suriname?
Credit cards are a solution - and part of the problem
Debit and credit cards are a part of everyday life that we don't think about, but not so long ago they would have felt like a strange concept to those using physical currency to buy things. The first UK credit card was issued in 1966, while the first debit card didn't arrive in the UK until 1987.
Now, there are over 51 million debit cardholders in the UK, accounting for 96% of adults, while over 32 million UK adults have a credit card. According to the trade association UK Finance, total spending on credit and debit cards accounted for over £800 billion during 2018, with over 20 billion transactions over the course of the year.
Such is the increased popularity of using card payments – helped by online shopping and the ability to make contactless payments in stores – that it's overtaken cash as the most common form of payment in the UK, and the number of card payments is still growing.
👀 👉🏼 https://www.zdnet.com/article/my-stolen-credit-card-details-were-used-4500-miles-away-i-tried-to-find-out-how-it-happened
#stolen #creditcard #details #story
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
📡@NoGoolag
ZDNET
My stolen credit card details were used 4,500 miles away. I tried to find out how it happened
When cybersecurity reporter Danny Palmer found his card was apparently used on another continent, he set out to discover more.