Fraudsters are always seeking to victimize big or small financial institutions. While security measures both physical and non-tangible (i.e. software) are implemented by banks across the globe, fraudsters still find ways to take advantage of areas where there is not as much risk. One such area is victimizing banks through the use of their ATMs. One popular scam that continues to flourish across dark net marketplaces are cloned cards.
Cloned cards are fake blank cards that have stolen victims’ information on its magnetic strip and chip. These cards function similarly to other cards -- someone can go to different stores to make purchases with them. The only difference? Their physical appearance. In most cases, fraudsters focus their attention to ATMs.
A victim may not even realize that their information has been compromised and cloned onto a fake card so the chance of them freezing their account is low. The ATM not being physically guarded most of the time creates a scenario of high reward with low risk. A fraudster is able to cash out thousands before the bank and victim even realizes, making the market for these cards very profitable. Here is a photo that displays the various pricing ranges in the market right now for cloned cards:
Another ATM scam that aids in the clone carding markets are skimmers. Skimmers are devices with embedded software to scan a victim’s debit or credit information, download it, and store it for the fraudster.
A fraudster will usually sell this information on the dark net in bulk or create cloned cards to either use themselves or sell to others on darknet marketplaces. One of the skimmers is a physical piece outfitted over where a victim will insert their card, the piece is equipped with a card reader to store the stolen information. If the victim decides to not insert their card and use the card proxy scanner, they would still get their information stolen as the fraudster has equipped the ATM with this type of skimmer as well. While banks do routine operations to check if their ATM’s have been tampered with, that does not stop fraudsters from using more advanced tactics to utilize ATMs in their schemes.
In the screenshot below, a scammer explains a GSM skimmer as a wireless skimmer that bypasses bank ATM security up to 75 feet in distance and even through brick wall:
It is easy for a fraudster to victimize a bank’s client - by just sitting in their car with their setup actively downloading client information as cars come and go...
Below, we have included a screenshot in which a fraudster is selling GSM skimmers and gives a quick guide on how profitable it is to use GSM skimmers. The guide also includes steps scammers can take after collecting valuable client data. Big or small, banks all of the world continue to see their ATM’s targeted to be used in darknet scams and the pace does not seem to slowing down anytime soon.
About Finovifi
Protect your financial institution and customers with Finovifi's comprehensive fraud prevention solutions. Our SilverSafe platform provides real-time dark web monitoring to proactively identify compromised elder customer data, while our integrated FraudXchange ecosystem offers seamless protection against check fraud and financial exploitation. With customizable enrollment options and full regulatory compliance support for CFPB and FDIC guidelines, Finovifi helps you stay ahead of fraudsters while meeting your compliance obligations. Don't wait for fraud to happen - contact Finovifi to protect your customers and institution.