A Whitehall couple got a phone call from the credit card company asking if they had purchased $670 worth of beauty salon supplies in California. The ‘no’ answer started the process many people have experienced.
The card was canceled. A new one arrived in the mail a few days later. All auto-pay accounts were notified, along with online accounts, like Amazon and eBay. They were glad the card company reacted to the unusual activity worth hundreds of dollars. They also wondered how this could happen.
An interview with Jim Konieczny revealed much on this subject. He and his wife, Christy, who moved to the White Lake area three years ago, are retired municipal police detectives from Chester and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania, and are experienced with fraud.
A theft can happen any time you hand the card to someone and you lose sight of it. Konieczny said, “The person who has the card can photograph both sides of it and then return and ask for verification of who you are and get the ZIP code from your driver’s license (or they use social engineering tactics while conversing with you to obtain the information). Then they have all the information they need to fraudulently make internet purchase orders.”
During his 26 years on the job, he investigated identity theft and access device fraud, in addition to teaching the topic at Immaculata College, near Philadelphia. He also trained many police officers.
The term ‘access device’ covers any type of card: credit, debit, gift, etc. There was a time when fraud committed with debit and gift cards was not enforceable by the existing ‘credit card fraud’ laws. This loophole has since been closed.
Credit/access card fraud, and the cards themselves, have evolved over the years. Credit card fraud initially required the card to be stolen or obtained by stealing bills from the mail or dumpster-diving for account information. As technology evolved, organized rings switched to counterfeiting cards with customer data obtained from the dark web, hackers, and skimmers on merchant ATMs or Point of Sale (POS) card readers at retail checkout lanes and self-serve gas pumps.
With the introduction of chip technology, law enforcement worldwide has seen an increase in card thefts and a decrease in counterfeit cards. Groups of pickpockets often use distraction techniques to obtain the cards, avoiding the bump or physical contact with the victim as, in many states, this will upgrade the crime to a higher charge.
Always be wary of those around you. A thief might ask, “Can you reach the can on the top shelf for me?” While you are reaching to help, an accomplice is lifting a purse or wallet from your shopping cart. At a busy fast-food place, your number is called and while you leave the booth to get your food, someone else makes off with your purse.
Today, a common source of access device cards are locations that credit cards are left unsecure such as handbags hanging off the back of chairs or set on the floor in restaurants and movie theaters or unattended in cars or gym lockers. Organized crime is still at it, but others now have returned to low-tech by stealing cards and ‘shoulder surfing’ (looking over your shoulder as you input your PIN).
Like many people, the couple mentioned earlier were victimized again. They saw two entries on a monthly statement for $49.99 and $99.99 from a health club in Texas. They called the 800 number on the back of the card. The card company credited them for the bogus charges and later reported finding a charge for $1.98 by the same business a month earlier. That was a ‘test case’ to see if the numbers they had were good.
When traveling, and using a card, don’t tell anyone (waiter, clerk, attendant) where you are from. Your personal data, including your address, can be used to commit ID and access card fraud. If asked for ID when using your credit card, put your thumb over your address. No retailer needs that information. Some thieves find employees willing to help for a cut of the action. Friday is a popular day for bad activity, as the weekend may delay some of the reporting and reacting until Monday.
Also, be careful with your cards. This writer now puts his card away before signing the receipt. More than once, it’s been left it on the table or in the folder left by the waitress. One gets distracted: the pen doesn’t work, the table might be messy, there is a water spot to avoid on the table, etc.
There is a very low probability credit card thieves will be caught. Most incidents never get reported to the police. The credit card company will usually wipe out the charges after their investigation and the customer is not out financially, so the case is closed. If the police are called, there is a long list of reasons why not much is, or can be, done. For instance, where the information was stolen is often unknown. The theft and where an ATM raid or a Best Buy or Walmart buying spree takes place may be in different jurisdictions. No city or county wants to see their reported crime rates go up. There is a shortage of officers and their time is allocated to crimes deemed a higher priority.
Credit card losses are covered by the card company’s high interest rate. Pockets being picked or other thefts in large stores are often not pursued outside the building due to company policy.
There is some hope, however. With digital cameras and facial recognition software being used more often, some of these people are being identified and prosecuted.
The latest gift card scam, covered on TV news in December, is being reported nationwide and is very complicated. Thieves take gift cards from a rack in a store and capture their numbers. Then they return the cards to the places where they took them. When the card is sold, a dollar amount is attached. The bad guys are alerted and withdraw the total amount. When the gift card recipient attempts to use it, there is no money available. Advice from the news report was for gift card buyers to examine the card’s packaging for any tampering and to get a receipt from the store, just in case.
Credit cards can be convenient, but there is a risk. More cash may be used on this writer’s next extended trip.
