Ireland Credit Card

Credit cards are also called as plastic money since they act as a substitute for cash. Plastic money is generally termed to be safer than paper money especially when we talk about it getting stolen or lost. However, there are other ways in which fraud can happen on your credit card and the first step towards protection is knowledge about the possible ways in which a fraud can happen. In Ireland, people are a lot more oblivious to the risks than our European counterparts.

Broadly, Credit card fraud is executed in two ways:

1) Using the credit card details of a person to make purchases or payments (mainly through the internet)

2) Using special devices to create duplicate copies of credit card and using it in all possible fraudulent ways.

Here we are not counting credit card theft since that is too obvious a thing to discuss right now.

For being able to use your credit card details, the fraudster needs to obtain these details first. So how does someone get to know the details of your credit card?

Well, there are various ways in which a fraudster can do that. in Ireland, the typical thief is your average joe idiot scumbag, or so you might think. Not anymore. Let’s look at some of the methods used by these new fraudsters to get critical details of your credit card:

Spyware programs: Sypware gets loaded on your computer when you install unsafe software on your computer or when you open an attachment from an email from unknown source. Believe it or not, this happens in Ireland too! They could also enter your computer when your computer is connected to an unprotected/unsafe computer network. Spyware come in a variety of avatars, some more sophisticated that the others. These have the capability to record the key strokes or even take screen shots of whatever you do on your computer. All this information then gets communicated to the spy (the fraudster) again via internet. So whenever you make a purchase on the internet which requires you to enter the details of your credit card, the spyware program transmits the same to the spy controlling the spyware. This is how spyware works.

Corrupt clerks: Sometimes the clerks behind the payment counters may commit a fraud on your credit card. So when you handover your credit card to pay your bill at a restaurant, the corrupt payment desk clerk might either swipe your card multiple times or might just note the details of your credit card.

Garbage: Few fraudsters use this novel technique too. They sift through your garbage, searching for letters/mails containing your credit card details. They do sometimes strike gold since there are people who just bin some of their mails even without opening them.

Once these fraudsters have the details of your credit card, they use it for online purchases/payments.

The other method (card duplication) is even more dangerous. The fraudsters could attach these duplication devices to cash/ATM machines or other credit card transaction machines. These devices record all the information from the credit card. This information can then be written to a blank credit card in order to prepare a duplicate. This duplicate card can be used in the same way as the original card. This is what you have read in teh newspapers about all those scam artists coming in from Eastern Europe and doing, but some Irish are doing it now too!

These are just some of the ways in which these fraudsters operate and they always keep coming up with new and original ways of conducting fraud. So be on your guard. We are reminded countless times about the risks at ATM machines, so use your head. If an ATM machine looks a bit dodgy, or looks like its been messed with, go to the one down the street.