Credit card fraud and personal data leaks are happening often on the Darknet marketplace recently. Ranging from the Well to do members of the society, to the least of status in the country, all have their share of credit card fraud on the Darknet.
A recent report reaching us is that a bundle of credit card details of some South Africans have been sighted on Darknet marketplaces.
The saddest part of this issue is that the cards are sold at cheaper prices, to buyers who need them for their fraudulent activities.
The Managing Director at Galix Networking, Simeon Tassev said, some organizations do not take their prevention culture serious enough, whether out of ignorance or lack of interest.
Mr. Tassey said: “Whether due to lack of interest or just plain ignorance, some organizations have been ‘slow on the uptake’ when incorporating and implementing the appropriate prevention technology and processes.”
This is not the first time South Africans suffered such fate as a similar case happened in 2015 when a popular dating website called AshleyMadison was hacked. This resulted in the breach of several records of personal data, which included credit card information.
It was reported that the details hacked included contact details and an amount paid, but not the actual credit card numbers. Instead, the last four digits and the transaction ID of the credit cards were accessible to the hackers.
The rate at which the credit card fraud is increasing on the Darknet is very serious. It is advisable for individuals and organizations to take proactive measures to match the future attack of the hackers.
The hackers either sell these credit cards or use them to withdraw money from individual cash machines. The victims of these forged credit card numbers are not necessarily South Africans but across the world. Some hackers have also been arrested over credit card fraud.
Mr. Tassey advised organizations try to prepare themselves instead of being ‘sitting ducks’ waiting for a cyber attack: “In today’s cyber climate, organizations should be preparing themselves, instead of acting like the darkweb is just another episode of Mr. Robot.”
Last year, a group of hackers stole $13 million from a cash machine in other countries after forging some credit cards from a South African bank. A total of 1,600 forged credit cards were used to steal $1,400 cash from individuals across Japan.
Using forged credit cards to steal money from cash machine takes no time, and this seems to be the dangerous part of it as it took them just a few seconds to steal 100,000 yen, equivalent to $913 from the Standard Bank. It is likely that a similar case may occur, as the forged credit cards which enhance cyber theft at cheaper prices on the Darknet marketplace. Some are sold as low as 50 cents on the Darknet market.
Mr. Tassev also said to reporters that hackers make good returns from the stolen credit cards as they sell them on the Darknet market. He, however, confirmed that hackers do not actually use these credit cards for themselves. Sometimes, they hold them for owners to pay a quoted ransom before they are released back.
“In this way, once a hacker has access to these card numbers, the hacker can maximize his or her return on investment by selling this information on the dark web and minimize the risk,” said Mr. Tassev.
“It is safe to say that hackers don’t mean it personally when they steal credit card information. The reality is, many if not most payment card breaches hit retail and hospitality businesses,” he added.
Most of the recent attacks come from the infection of the PoS system with memory-scraping malware.
The cost involved in Credit Card fraud is huge, and the cost to undertake protection measure is always less than the money lost to hackers in the process.
Many countries have suffered from this same problem. The numerous credit card details found on the Darknet are not only for South African nationals but individuals all over the world.
Mr. Tassev added that organizations should update themselves on credit card frauds as the next unknown attack: “Organizations need to stay up to date with the latest fraud scams which include the theft of customer credit card details that are sold on the dark web.”
“Attacks on businesses are becoming an increasing problem in South Africa, and no one can claim to know the future.”
Since cyber theft is rampant globally, it is expected that there may be a way out in keeping hackers away, but before that, individuals and organizations should stay updated.
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