One of the most successful markets within the dark web environment is cards. Ranging from blank white cards to stolen credit cards, fraudsters take every opportunity to make a quick buck. One of the most profitable cards is blank cards.
Blank cards are debit cards that have no information such as numbers, names, or logos and are usually recognized through their signature white color. Blank cards have nothing but a magnetic strip and chip which is all that a fraudster needs. A fraudster is going to write a victim’s stolen information, (credit card number, name, exp date, etc.), onto the blank card.
To do this a fraudster needs a plethora of tools. The first one being a strip reader. A strip reader is what reads the magnetic strip on the back of credit or debit cards. While some fraudsters may utilize this to trick a person into swiping their card onto their strip reader to steal info, in the situation of making blank cards, a fraudster will use the reader to write stolen card info on the blank card's magnetic strip. This is done by using software that stores stolen victim info and connects to a strip reader to write the stolen info. The final tool and step in blank card creation is an omni key. An omni key is a tool that can read and write a victim’s card information into the chip.
Imagine this: a fraudster scrolls through folders on his laptop and proceeds to burn information into the chip. Then, the fraudster verifies that the chip can be read to later use in an ATM. The finished product is then used to withdraw money from an ATM. All of these tools can be bought online, even from Amazon...
Blank cards can raise suspicion to someone who knows what they are. Another way to make convincing cards is to buy Visa gift cards and manufacture them. In the YouTube short by Vice TV, “The Scammer’s Guide to Faking Credit Cards”, a fraudster shows the second method of how to create fake cards.
A fraudster will use hand sanitizer to remove all the numbers from the card, use a strip reader to burn a victim’s info on the magnetic strip, and then use an embosser to write the physical numbers and the victim's name on the card. The video also shows the decision-making of fraudsters--how he would go for the elderly cashier as they likely won’t recognize the authenticity of the card. The final and the most convincing cards are stealing physical cards. The fraudsters on the dark web tend to avoid physical altercations so instead of robbing someone at gunpoint, they steal mail. Mail can contain medical information, checks, and credit/debit cards. A fraudster can try to activate it and go on a shopping spree. If the card gets frozen, a fraudster can just rewrite the card using the previous method. They now have a bank-issued credit card with a chip. See below for an example.
Even an expert in spotting fake cards will fall for this since it is technically a real bank card. As it stands, the market for fake cards and their victimization of citizens, banks, and businesses doesn’t seem to end anytime soon.
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Reference:
“The Scammers Guide to Faking Credit Cards.” YouTube, uploaded by Vice TV, 19 May 2013, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kvjOeYV4CTA