What type of credit card fraud is the most common?

According to Nilson in its forecast Report, U.S. losses from card fraud will total $165.1 billion over the next 10 years. Nison is a company that monitors credit card fraud in the payment industry. Many countries have GDPs of less than 100 Billion US dollars, so understand credit fraud and how big is it. It is not a growing problem in the USA but also in Europe and Asian countries. So it becomes important to know the type of credit card fraud and how to stop it.

According to the FBI report, phishing is a common tactic by cybercriminals. There are many ways used by the fraudster to steal money from the users which we will discuss one by one in this blog post. Also, I will give some tips to secure your credit card from getting hacked. So you can enjoy your life without any problems.

The prevalence of credit card fraud

I read the report given by the Federal Trade Commission in the USA, User losses $8.8 Billion due to credit card fraud. So you can get an idea of how big is this industry. These numbers are more than 30 percent from the previous year.

Also $3.3 billion in losses by the users in other investment-related industries. The second highest reported industry is imposter scams, with losses more than $2.6 billion reported, up from $2.4 billion in 2021.

These numbers show nobody is safe on the Internet if you do not care about privacy. Don’t take it lightly when you are using your data online because you will be the next person to whom an online scam happens.

Importance of understanding common types of credit card fraud

Understanding credit card fraud will help you to use credit cards for your shopping, purchasing, or payments. So it is important for several reasons:

1. it can help you to prevent financial loss due to the fraud
2. It can help to detect suspicious activity when happens to you.
3. It will prevent the unauthorized use of your credit card
4. It can help you protect your personal and financial information from being stolen
5. It can help you to save your credit score.

The most common types of credit card fraud

To protect your credit card it becomes essential about What type of credit card fraud and how to prevent these attacks. So let’s know:

1. Phishing scams

Phishing is a cybercrime in which hackers use emails or text messages to spread viruses to hackers. Usually, cyber hackers purchase the stolen data from the Dark web and send them emails to millions of users. Many of them think it is a legitimate email or text message, and they click on it and provide personal data.

It is a very common practice used by cybercriminals. In recent times, Frausdeter sent emails based on the Cryptocurrency Giveaway. To get free cryptocurrency, users provide their personal data to hackers.

Examples of common phishing techniques

1. Fake Emails: as we discuss cybercriminals send a fake email that looks like genuine email. That is the reason many users fall into scams. In most cases, The subject of the Email or Text message is ” Freeze your account”, “Your account is blocked”, ” Get free BTC”, “You won 1 million dollars”
2. Vishing: Remember that Banks or financial companies never call users directly regarding the credit card block, you change your bank account. Vising is a technique to trick people by making phone calls to the users. It pretends to be from legitimate organizations, such as banks, tech support, or law enforcement. Fraudsters try to get PIN and credit card information through these phone calls.
3. Pharming is a technique used by phishers to infect a user’s computer or network with harmful software. This software alters the DNS settings, which results in the user being redirected to dangerous websites instead of the intended legitimate ones.

2. Card skimming

Card skimming is another type of fraud for users. Basically, hackers use the external device and attach it to the Credit Card reader when you are using your credit card at ATMs, Shops, or anywhere.

A skimmer is a device to collect your data like a credit card number, or PIN when you type on a Card reader device. Criminals use them later to steal money from the victims. Skimmers are usually found at ATMs and gas stations, but they can also be found at retail stores or restaurants.

So how to stop them:

1. Before using an ATM or Gas Pump, try to use an NFC-based credit card. In NFC credit card, you don’t need to swipe your Credit card number, just Tap and payment.
2. Check the Credit Card reader carefully when you pay.
3. Please check inside the card reader to see if anything is already inserted. If you find a thin plastic circuit board, it could be a device designed to steal card information.

Examples of Card skimming

1. RFID Skimming: It is a type of card skimming that involves to use of REID reading devices. It obtains the payment card information unlawfully. Contemporary payment cards are equipped with an embedded microchip that facilitates the wireless transmission of the card’s pertinent data. Cybercriminals take advantage of this technology to get information about credit cards.

3. Identity theft

Identity theft is a cybercrime in which hackers steal personal data like phone numbers, names, and banking credentials and use them to steal money or for illegal purposes. The best way to stop identity theft is to use an Anti-virus or VPN like NordVPN, Atlas VPN, ExpresVPn, or any reputable VPN on your device.

how personal information is stolen and misused

Identity theft can be stolen in many ways such as phishing, card skimming, data breaches, or mail theft. Sometimes, cybercriminals hack Comapay servers if you have an account or register your data on that company, your data also be compromised. For example, LastPass is a very popular Password manager provider, their server was hacked by cybercriminals so millions of users’ data were also compromised.

4. Online shopping fraud

I received an email regarding the iPhone offer. I became excited and opened the link inside the email attached. When I opened the website, the Website was similar to AMAZON.COM, but the URL was not the same as amazon.com. Then I checked the link on the VirusToal website, that website is a fake website used to spread malware and collect banking credentials when we purchase on it.

That is one-way online shopping website fraud happens. Fake websites offer cheap products and when we order by credit card, cybercriminals get out personal data. Thus they steal our money.

Common tactics used by fraudsters

1. Spoof website: As I discussed above, they create a fake website that is similar to Amazon, Walmart, or any big shopping website and offer very cheap products on it. Many users did not check the URL of the fake website, or in excitement, they ordered immediately to get cheap products.
2. Social Media Scam: Fraudsters send personal messages through the Message inbox through Twitter, Facebook, Ticktakl, or any social media. When we like some products or accounts. Cybercriminal knows we have an interest in this product. It may be software, cryptocurrency, or products. They send the offer to use to trick us. literally, many people become a victim of these scams.

Case studies

Data collected from Statista, outside of the United States, the amount of fraud transactions experienced an almost high surge from 2014 to 2021. The cumulative value of fraudulent card payments amounted to 32 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

Year	Amount (In billions)
2021	32.34
2020	28.43
2019	28.65
2018	27.86
2017	23.97
2016	22.80
2015	21.84
2014	18.11

Estimated by the Nilson Research, It is projected that over the course of the next decade, the industry will incur a cumulative loss of $397 billion on a global scale, with $165 billion of this amount being attributed to the United States.

Prevention Tips

1. Get help from Technology

Antivirus can save you money when cybercriminals try to steal your data from your device. There are many antivirus that come with free security to the users.

Make sure you have installed an anti-virus on your device to protect your online privacy. If you use too much of a credit card, then you can choose the Paid version of Anti-virus.

2. Secure your data with VPN

VPNs have become very popular due to the security portion offered to the users. They filter all bad elements when you pay online. The feature offered by the NAT Firewall detects malware and blocks it before damaging the user’s data.

Also, it encrypts the data that is sent or received by the users so it makes it hard to steal by the cybercriminals.

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3. Make sure website with HTTPS

Payment-only on those website that comes with HTTPS security. HTTPS protocol applies to the website servers to encrypt data that was sent by the users. Because it secures data such as credit card, debit card, or account credentials when you are payments.

4. Turn On Instant ALert when payment done

It will help a user to stay alert when any unauthorized payment is on their cards. If you get an instant alert, you will take suitable action against the credit card fraud immediately.

Also, use strong passwords and change them frequently.

5. Check the Device on the ATM or Point on Sale

Make sure the device is clean when you swipe the credit card at ATM or Point on SAle. It will help to detect any suspicious activity. And, you can use an RFID-blocking wallet to prevent RFID skimming.

Reporting credit card fraud

For USA Citizen

To report credit card fraud, register your complaint on the FTC portal online immediately after the scam.

For EU and Asian Citizen

Immediately contact your Credit card issuer to solve your issue. I am not providing any support number, because of restrictions.