Showing posts with label atm skimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atm skimming. Show all posts

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Payment card fraud victims being denied compensation

Apparently, fraudsters are now able to clone some payment cards, assign a new PIN -- and it appears that the customer's old PIN was used when the bank reviews the transactions.

Card Guide (UK) is reporting:

The Chip and Pin technology that has been in use in the UK over recent years is supposed to be practically fraud proof, but this is not the case, as thieves can clone cards and put a new PIN number onto the card – this is known as a YES card.

However, it appears to the bank that the original card and PIN have been used, and therefore banks claim that either the customer carried out the transaction themselves or they gave their PIN number to someone or were careless with the security of their PIN.

Card Guide story, here.

There have been many instances, where payment card thieves were able to get card details, along with the PIN numbers. It can happen to just about anyone, even when they are being careful.

If you have had a fraud claim denied because the bank claims you were careless, you might want to read about instances (substantiated), where PIN details were stolen using pretty sophisticated methods, here.

Of course, there are and always have been people, who try to claim fraud for their own financial advantage. Because of this, it seems some innocent people are getting their claims denied (my opinion).

Figuring out, who is guilty of this is getting harder all the time.

My guess is that with all the fraud involving payment cards, it's no longer an expense the banks can continue to write-off as a cost of doing business.

Banks denying claims because they say a customer compromised their own information is nothing new.

One example of how this happens can be seen on BankofAmericaSucks.com, here.

I guess all the zero liability ads we see all the time aren't exactly one-hundred accurate?

If you have wrongfully had a claim denied, I've seen individuals made whole by escalating the matter with the financial institution. In some instances, using a consumer advocate was necessary.

On a final note, in most businesses, the cost of fraud is passed off to everyone, when we pay more for goods and services. The truth is we are all held liable for the cost of fraud!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Stealing money from ATMs is taken to a more dangerous level

I've written a lot about ATM skimming -- where electronic devices are used to record payment card information, clone the information on a new card -- and steal money.

A new and much more dangerous (potentially deadly) means of stealing money from ATMs is occurring. Although most of this is happening in South Africa, it has happened recently in the United States, also.

Monica Laganparsad of the Times is reporting:

ATM blasts in KwaZulu-Natal have dramatically increased in the past two months.

During the first five months of this year seven ATM bombings were reported in the province, but in the past two months the figure has jumped to 14.

The organised crime unit of the province’s police claims to be hot on the heels of those behind the blasts.

According to the article, there have been 194 ATM bombings in South Africa this year. One man had his arms blown off, while trying to use an ATM!

I would like to have found out that ATM bombings were purely a South African phenomenon, but they are not. On July 2nd, Fox News reported a similar series of attempts in Kansas City, here.

Stealing, or attempting to break into ATMs is nothing new.

Fox News has another video, where a "Bobcat earth mover" was used to steal a ATM machine in Kansas, here.

Times (South Africa) story, here.






ATM machine after being bombed courtesy of Pat Hawks at Flickr