Agape Blog

As credit card use is on the rise and plastic cards slowly replacing cash, it won’t be far when the common man will use smart cards freely for everyday transactions. But wait! Is it safe? However, hookies that had shifted their hooks sometime back on stealing credit card data, selling them to fraudsters and duping banks with multi-billion dollars every year, creating a wave of bankruptcy for major player banks. These transactions ask for the 16-digit code on the front of the card, and expiry date and some also ask for the three-digit security card on the back. All of these details are available to a fraudster who has a stolen credit card.

Every person has some or the other doubt in mind about using credit card. There’s a good news…Visa is launching a smart card with in-guilt display that will be extremely secured during operation and will require a four digit code in addition to the three-digit security code generated by the card, before a transaction could go through making online fraud pretty difficult if not impenetrable.

This processed technology known as the Emue system should be launched by the end of this year. Employees at Deloitte are working on this new card system to find if any vulnerability is present. Adding an extra layer for online transactions and being a consumer focused product, visa banks would welcome this system open heartedly. The developers of this emue system say that it automatically generates and displays a unique code each time it is used. Work on the battery back-up part is still in progress but should run a couple of years without trouble.

Sherwin Azavedo
Manager: Cyber Crime Complaints
Agape Inc.

Credit card fraud is increasing enormously though it is in its childhood stage. Most of the cases received on credit card fraud at cyber crime complaint cell in Agape Inc. are unauthorized use of credit card. Money is credited on the account of card holder without his/her knowledge or items are purchased without his/her consent.

There are no definitive global figures on losses from credit card fraud - most financial institutions are tight-lipped on the subject — an FBI report from 2005 indicated that credit cards represented the majority of the total $315 billion (Rs1,283,310 crore) U.S. financial fraud loss for that year, while a recent European study found that more than 22 million adults fell victim to credit card scams in 2006. Figures from the Banque de France, the country’s central bank, showed a credit card fraud loss of 236 million euros, or $319 million, for 2005.

The increase in Internet fraud could be expected because more businesses are accepting online transactions. The problem is that the criminals are targeting the customers more than the technology. It is not about hacking into computers as much as it is about tricking users into revealing their card or account details.

As far as banks and credit card companies are concerned, online theft is the same as its equivalent in the physical world: If someone steals your card information, the bank or card issuer will normally cover most or all of unauthorized charges. That is why many card issuers are putting new security measures in place. “Verified by Visa” is a free service where your purchases are protected with participating online merchants by a password, as is MasterCard’s new SecureCode service.

Card companies are hoping the extra layer of security will reduce some of the more popular types of identity theft, both online and offline, that fraudsters are now employing.

Instead of these security users have less control over his card in terms of authentication. During money transaction or the credit card number transaction control should be defined by the user itself as we do in physical transaction. The security professional must think on the secure authentication techniques which will provide more control to the user itself.