Computer Crime Problems Research Center

Andrey Belousov
www.crime-research.org

Recommendations and technique on prevention of plastic cards crimes

Expansion of bank plastic cards is the major tendency of clearings development in bank activity. There are about billion plastic cards all over the world now. These means gives a line of advantages all persons and the organizations using them. For clients it is convenience, reliability, economy of time and cash-out. For the credit organizations it is increase of competitiveness and prestige, payment guarantee, decrease in costs on manufacturing and processing money supply, the minimal time expenses and so on. Cards are constantly improved as the financial tool. Sphere of their application grows the services complex extends. It is only incomplete list of positive qualities of the plastic money which has caused their recognition in the world market.

The increase in volumes of the domestic plastic market makes a problem of plastic bank cards safety more and more actual. Cards are cheap and emitted in mass, so the risk of their fake grows also. Though methods of struggle against plastic cards swindle are improved constantly, the losses of banks make millions dollars.

2 billion dollars is annually abducted in the world with the help of plastic cards of Visa and Europay systems. Experience shows, that the number of swindles with cards depends on market's development. Swindlers constantly search for the countries which have significant volumes of cards issue, but haven't effective system on struggle with cards abusing. A lot of small and average banks work in the Ukrainian market today, but they are not ready to make enough efforts and means for safety and quality of this service. In result the level of swindle with payment cards is much higher in Ukraine than in global, and quality of service is lower.

The most popular kind of swindle with plastic cards is "skimming". It is copying (fake) of the data from a magnetic strip of a real card and drawing of these data on a false card (80 - 90 % of the cases). Swindlers use also the stolen or lost cards; they try to show such cards for payment in shops, expecting the personnel will not check the data of the client carefully. But some swindlers show also false documents with such cards and it represents additional danger.

According to statistics, law enforcement bodies get information only on 15 % of plastic cards swindle crimes. It is possible to define three types of plastic cards swindle: a deceit on the part of the seller, the buyer and the third person. Last is the most distributed? Internet abounds programs for generation of cards numbers, there are lists of real cards numbers with the data on their owners, etc. The International payment systems have developed mechanisms of fight against swindlers. Swindlers are often catch red-handed due to interaction of sellers, banks and law enforcement bodies. The stolen money is returned to victims, even if thieves are not found. Cards owners should stick to the recommendations of the bank-emitter strictly. Cards holders have to receive extracts under the account monthly and to verify them with the real charges.

There are no official statistics about swindlers activity in Ukraine now. In the same time banks work on monitoring roguish operations, but this information is strictly confidential.

On the informal data, losses from activity of card tricksters make about 1 % of operations with cards in Ukraine. On requirements of Visa and Europay, this figure should not exceed 0,14 %.

Creation of the Department on Fight Against Offences in Field of the Intellectual Property and High Technologies in Ukraine exert positive influence on a situation in the given area. Well trained experts understanding the features of payment cards and methods of counteraction to swindle with their use, are capable to resist organized criminal groupings down to the international scale. Statistics of criminal actions with payment cards is still not great in Ukraine. It caused by latency of this crimes and unwillingness of banks to promulgate the facts of criminal encroachments, aspiring thus to support a business reputation.

Crimes with use of payment cards concern to a category technically difficult on a plan and commit. Criminals are frequently united in groups for their realization. The groups have precise regulation of roles for preparation and realization of a criminal plan. Organizers and perpetrators of crime quite often possess high qualification and deep knowledge of technology and the organization of payment cards manipulation. Therefore, it is especially important to oppose their actions protective measures of law enforcement bodies, security services of banks and other legal persons-participants of a plastic payment means circulation. National safety system in the field of payment cards should resist swindling, carrying organized and special-purpose character in Ukraine.

The increase in plastic cards crimes threatens to undermine their authority as reliable financial tool. Therefore the problem of plastic cards protection demands special attention today. It is necessary to promote coordination with security services on such crimes prevention and to control cards circulation. It is possible to conduct such coordination by the organization of joint educational gathering and seminars, and creation of operative - investigatory brigades with attraction of experts from commercial banks on a constant or time basis. Conferences, forums, symposiums (including international) on bank systems safety will help to create system of interaction between security services of Ukrainian banks, train of the security services specializing on prevention of swindle with payment cards.

The following measures will be effective also:

1To develop and ratify «the Concept of payment cards technologies development» It allows making this process as organize, uniform system or the program of cooperation between all banks, engaged in plastic business.

2. To create National associations on payment cards which would be not state, non-profitable organizations uniting commercial banks and other credit organizations, and the organizations which activity is connected to issue, service, the circulation and other use of payment cards.

3. To create National system of safety in field of payment cards. Its elements should be:

• The legislation
• The specialized divisions of law enforcement bodies
• ?Security services of payment systems and security services of banks.

4. To develop legislation on a safety of electronic payments systems in Ukraine.

5. To develop a line of laws on the confidential information that would serve as protection for the investor and as additional argument for the benefit of payment cards as a way of non-cash payments, and also would secure other participants of plastic money circulation.

6. The national legislation should recognize an urgency of a problem of illegal operations with payment cards and provide strict measures in relation to criminals. It is offered to enter the criminal liability for:

• Manufacturing or possession of the tool for a fake or copings of payment cards
• Reception of counterfeit cards to payment for the goods or services if the person who receipts, knows or has know, that the card is counterfeit or has been received by criminal way
• Assignment of a payment card by criminal way, its wrongful use or its components (number, a personal identification code)
• Attraction of the person to illegal payment cards use with the purpose of the profit reception
• Deliberate use of a credit payment card with a view of increase in creditor debts which the person is not capable to pay off a debt.

7. It is necessary to create National Monitoring System of roguish operations with payment cards in each of the states and made law enforcement bodies, National associations on payment cards or national Associations of banks responsible for it.

Recommendations to plastic cards holders:

• Take an interest in insurance policy at purchase of a card. Take insurance always. Most likely, money for this service is already paid.

• Never write a PIN-code on a card.

• Never store the written down PIN-code together with a card. Learn a code by heart and do not store it in written form at all.

• Leave a sample of the signature on the back side of a card at once after its reception.

• Never transfer a card to other person. In case of need it is possible to make, for example, a family card.

• Never inform somebody the PIN-code. None (workers of the bank, the attendants of a cash dispenser, the inspector) has right to demand it.

• Do not leave a card without supervision, for example, in the machine, on a table at restaurant and so forth.

• Never phone to anybody number of the card. It is not known how many the person will hear your conversation, and whether there is no among them the one who can use heard number in the mercenary purposes.

• At loss cards phone about it immediately. If you have lost a debit card, call in bank which has given out it. It is necessary to inform representatives of payment system and the bank which has emitted a card at loss a credit card.

• Ρheck movements of money on your card account not less often, than once a month. The special attention should be turned to operation after trips in which you used the card.

The safety precautions at a cash dispenser:

• Try to not use a cash dispenser in deserted places or in places where is the big congestion of people. You become too vulnerable object for a robbery in a deserted place, it is impossible to be confident, that nobody will see a PIN-code entered by you in crowd.

• Do not allow to extraneous people to see an entered PIN-code. It is quite possible, after that you will find out loss of a card, and hardly later and money from your card account.

• Be not mistaken at input of a PIN-code. Cash dispenser will detain your card after three erroneous inputs of a code.

• Be operative at use a cash dispenser. Certain time (30-45 seconds) is given on each operation. If during this time operation will not be completed, at the best the cash dispenser will return to you a card, in the worse - will detain it.

• Check up, whether you have taken away all from a cash dispenser. After finishing of operation you should have: a card, money, an extract about the made operation. If something does not suffice, and the cash dispenser did not inform you any additional information, here something wrong. Probably, you risk to fall a victim to swindlers. Do not trust anybody at a cash dispenser even if this person is dressed in the form of the employee of a cash dispenser service.

• Keep extracts on results of operation which are given out with a cash dispenser always. It will allow to keep account the taken off money and to supervise write-off of money from your account.

• Do not show somebody the wallet and money which you have received from a cash dispenser. It is not necessary to recalculate them before a cash dispenser. The machine is not mistaken, and if will be mistaken, will not answer you of anything intelligible.

The safety precautions at payment by a card in shop, restaurant, etc.:

• Never let out a card from a field of vision. It is access to your money. Imagine, that you give the cashier or the waiter all money at your account and ask him to take how many it is necessary.

• Never sign more than three checks at payment without the POS-terminal. The signature on the check is consent to write off the specified sum from your card account. At the place where you pay by means of a card without POS-terminal first check remains in the organization, second is sent by this organization to the bank and third remains at you as acknowledgement of made operation.

• Never sign check where the sum is not specified. Having signed such check, you enable to write off from your account more money than it is necessary.

• Ρross out all empty fields after sign the check. Thus you will relieve the cashier of a temptation to enter there something superfluous.

• Demand check cancellation?at incorrect registration

The safety precautions at payment by a card in the Internet:

• Do not leave your personal and the card data at unknown sites. Take an interest in certain conferences. Look, where is the organization which you are going to pay. If there is no address or you don't trust it, think, whether costs to pay?

• Do not use card on which you have large sums of money for payment in the Internet. It is better to get a separate card for such purpose.

• Pay attention to the various certificates confirming safety of settlement through the given site.

• Address to bank?at occurrence of the slightest suspicions about wrongful write-off of money from the account. You have certain term to refuse or challenge wrongful money write-off from your card account. Duration of this term should be specified in the bank which was giving out to you a card.

The bank plastic card became a habitual payment means. We hope that the given recommendations can be useful in practical application for the prevention of swindle in their use.

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