Many people use their credit cards to pay bills in shops, restaurants or at petrol pumps and they are not aware of the fact that their cards are being cloned.
In a recent incidence Tejinder Negi, a resident of Delhi frequently used his credit card to pay his bills in shops, restaurants or even refueling stations but his spending was just a few thousand rupees through the month. When he received his credit card statement at the end of the month he was shocked to see that his spending figures have almost doubled.
He then contacted his bank and realized that his card was being used by someone else, which means he was a victim of credit card cloning as he never shared his plastic money with anybody else.
When Headlines Today investigated the matter it found that credit card cloning is increasing not only in national capital but also in various metros, where plastic money is used on large scale. Across the country, through cloning of credit cards people have been robbed of crores of rupees.
During investigation it was found a credit card cloning machine is used in the fraud. The equipment can easily be purchased online and is delivered at one's doorstep. In just two minutes the credit card is cloned. Even the debit cards can be cloned easily.
The machine, also called a skimmer, besides obtaining easily various attractive offers is also given on some schemes. To check, Headlines Today also placed an order for a cloning kit and within a week it was delivered at the doorstep.
Pawan Duggal, a cyber law expert, said, "The punishment is barely three years (of imprisonment). And even if you get caught, getting bail is quite easy."
According to experts it is impossible to eliminate this fraud, but precautions can be taken to protect plastic money:
* At the time of delivery of credit card if the envelope containing is already opened or is tampered with don’t accept it. There are chances that card might have been cloned before the delivery.
* At the time of making payment of bill with credit card keep check when it is being swiped and don’t allow the person to take card anywhere else to swipe. It reduces the chance of card being put through a cloning machine.
* In the credit card statement check all the transactions carefully to spot illegal usage.
* Dispose bank statements and credit card receipts carefully as criminals search dustbins for these.
How is the card cloned?
As cloning machine is easy to obtain, also it is easy to use. One just has to follow steps. This credit card skimmer needs just two minutes to transfer all the data onto its own personal computer that comes ready with specialized software.
The software is provided by the company that provides the credit card skimmer. When ‘upload’ button is clicked the details of various credit cards that the person has swiped comes onto the computer. The machine can store details of up to 3,000 credit cards in its database.
There is a credit card writer in the kit. A fraudster has to just swipe a blank credit card through this credit card writer and the data stored on it instantly gets transferred to the fraudster's blank credit card. Surprisingly, these counterfeit cards are complete with security holograms markings.
Instances of skimming
In North America and Europe there have been many cases of cloning. But in India it is increasing rapidly as more and more people are using plastic money. Recently skimming gangs have been busted.
In one of the cases, on April 19, 2010, an MBA graduate named Fiyaaz Ahmed was held in Gurgaon for cloning cards. He had stolen data from 35 cards, duplicated three of them and did shopping worth Rs 3 crore.
Mohammed Fadil Koshmin, 22-year old computer science student from Mangalore was nabbed by crime branch official on March 22, 2010, for using fake credit cards. He was allegedly the ring leader of a card-cloning gang. He had a pan-India network and he made transactions worth Rs 10 lakh in six months.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Indian credit card base is close to 2005-06 levels
Banks in order to get rid of their bad loans they have cut down on the issuing of credit cards. As a result in India credit card base has shrunk by 10 million cards to 18.31 million at the end of March 2010 from 28.31 million at the end of March 2008.
At present the number of credit cards is close to 2005-06 levels, when it touched the lowest in the previous five years at 17.32 million.
According to bankers the reduction is due to increased interest rates on card out standings, besides from those that have been cancelled and are inactive. At present, banks have stopped seeking business from the open market.
Saurabh Tripathi, partner and director of Boston Consulting Group said, “The irrational lending in the Indian unsecured market has corrected. The market has now become stable as banks strike a balance between profitability and growth.” “We will continue to see a drop in card numbers as banks become selective in sourcing customers. However, the spends will continue to rise as customers now pay an annual fee to hold a card and banks (are) also coming up with more value-based promotions.”
In the previous years, banks cancelled large number of dormant cards, which is a major reason for the shrinkage of the portfolio, said Sandeep Bhalla, business manager, cards, Citibank India. He added, “However, spends on cards have increased around 2-3% during the same time.” “Another reason for the dip in the number of credit card customers is the high level of delinquencies in the industry. However, the customer base in the industry has stabilized as the industry delinquencies have slowed down.”
An anonymous credit card head working with foreign bank said, “Non-performing loans, or NPAs, for the banking industry in the credit card business peaked in the fourth quarter of 2009. The NPAs have come down from the high of 18-20% to the low teens.” The dues which are not cleared for at least 90 days are designated as NPAs.
ICICI Bank Ltd, the largest credit card issuer in the country, has reduced the number of issuing cards to about five million from 8.5 million and stopped taking on fresh customers.
HDFC Bank Ltd is the second largest credit card issuer with 4.5 million cards. In January 2009, Citibank’s card based stood at 3.8 million, which reduced to 2.5 million by the end of December. At present it is having at least two million card holders.
“We are sourcing around 80,000 new card customers every month. The bank sources 85-90% of its business from bank customers. The rest comes from the open market generated by direct sales agents,” said Parag Rao, head, product, portfolio and service delivery, credit cards, HDFC Bank. “The delinquent cards ratio has gone up in the past one year and banks have closed those accounts. Banks have also been cleaning their credit card book in the past one-and-a-half years by closing down dormant cards.”
State Bank of India (SBI), have a joint venture of credit card with GE Capital Services, the largest issuer of private label credit cards in the world, said the card issuers have become strict and are cautious while issuing cards.
“At SBI Card, we have always believed in stringent credit assessment and underwriting,” said the spokesperson of SBI Cards and Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. “We now have more stringent credit checks with credit information bureaus/agencies including Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (Cibil).”
Cibil gather the credit history of individuals and assigns credit scores, which banks use before they sanction a loan or credit card.
“This short-term correction in the credit card base is a step in the right direction over the long term. It is part of the process of maturing for the industry in India,” added the SBI spokesperson. SBI Card has at least 2.5 million customers
However the average monthly spending on cards across the country is between Rs2,200 and Rs2,400, but only around 40% of users return their credit. If card holders clear dues within due date then banks does not earn any interest.
As per RBI records, the amount of out standing on credit cards has increased to Rs6,722.59 crore at the end of March 2010 from Rs4946.34 crore at the end of March 2009.
Card cancellations, specially driven by both defaults on payments and non-usage, are around 8-12% of the total card base. Banks block a card if payment is not made within 30 days and cancel it if no payment is made for 90 days.
“In the past one year, card companies’, including Citibank’s, focus has narrowed to the top 10-12 cities when it comes to sourcing credit cards as the usage is higher in these centres,” Bhalla said.
At present the number of credit cards is close to 2005-06 levels, when it touched the lowest in the previous five years at 17.32 million.
According to bankers the reduction is due to increased interest rates on card out standings, besides from those that have been cancelled and are inactive. At present, banks have stopped seeking business from the open market.
Saurabh Tripathi, partner and director of Boston Consulting Group said, “The irrational lending in the Indian unsecured market has corrected. The market has now become stable as banks strike a balance between profitability and growth.” “We will continue to see a drop in card numbers as banks become selective in sourcing customers. However, the spends will continue to rise as customers now pay an annual fee to hold a card and banks (are) also coming up with more value-based promotions.”
In the previous years, banks cancelled large number of dormant cards, which is a major reason for the shrinkage of the portfolio, said Sandeep Bhalla, business manager, cards, Citibank India. He added, “However, spends on cards have increased around 2-3% during the same time.” “Another reason for the dip in the number of credit card customers is the high level of delinquencies in the industry. However, the customer base in the industry has stabilized as the industry delinquencies have slowed down.”
An anonymous credit card head working with foreign bank said, “Non-performing loans, or NPAs, for the banking industry in the credit card business peaked in the fourth quarter of 2009. The NPAs have come down from the high of 18-20% to the low teens.” The dues which are not cleared for at least 90 days are designated as NPAs.
ICICI Bank Ltd, the largest credit card issuer in the country, has reduced the number of issuing cards to about five million from 8.5 million and stopped taking on fresh customers.
HDFC Bank Ltd is the second largest credit card issuer with 4.5 million cards. In January 2009, Citibank’s card based stood at 3.8 million, which reduced to 2.5 million by the end of December. At present it is having at least two million card holders.
“We are sourcing around 80,000 new card customers every month. The bank sources 85-90% of its business from bank customers. The rest comes from the open market generated by direct sales agents,” said Parag Rao, head, product, portfolio and service delivery, credit cards, HDFC Bank. “The delinquent cards ratio has gone up in the past one year and banks have closed those accounts. Banks have also been cleaning their credit card book in the past one-and-a-half years by closing down dormant cards.”
State Bank of India (SBI), have a joint venture of credit card with GE Capital Services, the largest issuer of private label credit cards in the world, said the card issuers have become strict and are cautious while issuing cards.
“At SBI Card, we have always believed in stringent credit assessment and underwriting,” said the spokesperson of SBI Cards and Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. “We now have more stringent credit checks with credit information bureaus/agencies including Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (Cibil).”
Cibil gather the credit history of individuals and assigns credit scores, which banks use before they sanction a loan or credit card.
“This short-term correction in the credit card base is a step in the right direction over the long term. It is part of the process of maturing for the industry in India,” added the SBI spokesperson. SBI Card has at least 2.5 million customers
However the average monthly spending on cards across the country is between Rs2,200 and Rs2,400, but only around 40% of users return their credit. If card holders clear dues within due date then banks does not earn any interest.
As per RBI records, the amount of out standing on credit cards has increased to Rs6,722.59 crore at the end of March 2010 from Rs4946.34 crore at the end of March 2009.
Card cancellations, specially driven by both defaults on payments and non-usage, are around 8-12% of the total card base. Banks block a card if payment is not made within 30 days and cancel it if no payment is made for 90 days.
“In the past one year, card companies’, including Citibank’s, focus has narrowed to the top 10-12 cities when it comes to sourcing credit cards as the usage is higher in these centres,” Bhalla said.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Jet Airways in a tie-up with SBI Cards offer unique travel option to its guests
Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, tied-up with SBI Card, the joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital, to offer its guests a unique travel option.
Through this tie-up airline company is trying to make air travel more affordable for guests across India. Under this Jet Airways’ guests can opt to convert their air tickets purchased on www.jetairways.com, using an SBI Credit Card into a zero per cent equated monthly installment (EMI) with tenure of 6 months.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is committed to significantly enhance the travel options available for all its guests, with an eye on convenience. The tie up with the SBI Card is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical and cost-effective for family travel. This new scheme bears testimony to our customer-centric approach wherein Jet Airways’ has time and again created products catering to the specific travel needs of our guests.”
He added with this scheme people can fly with family to tourist’s spots and this will encourage domestic tourism.
Mr. Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd said, “We are delighted to partner with Jet Airways and offer SBI Card holders an affordable travel option. This offering is in line with our focus on the travel segment as it enables air travelers a unique opportunity to fly now and pay later without any additional costs.”
Through this tie-up airline company is trying to make air travel more affordable for guests across India. Under this Jet Airways’ guests can opt to convert their air tickets purchased on www.jetairways.com, using an SBI Credit Card into a zero per cent equated monthly installment (EMI) with tenure of 6 months.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is committed to significantly enhance the travel options available for all its guests, with an eye on convenience. The tie up with the SBI Card is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical and cost-effective for family travel. This new scheme bears testimony to our customer-centric approach wherein Jet Airways’ has time and again created products catering to the specific travel needs of our guests.”
He added with this scheme people can fly with family to tourist’s spots and this will encourage domestic tourism.
Mr. Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd said, “We are delighted to partner with Jet Airways and offer SBI Card holders an affordable travel option. This offering is in line with our focus on the travel segment as it enables air travelers a unique opportunity to fly now and pay later without any additional costs.”
Monday, May 17, 2010
Axis Bank signed the largest ATM outsourcing deal with two private companies
Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector lender has signed the largest ATM outsourcing deal. It has signed an agreement with two third-party service providers in order to increase its ATM count. Bank is planning to increase its ATM count to more than 9,000 within the next 18 months.
An official connected to the development told bank has signed the contract with two companies Prizm Payment Services and AGS Infotech to set up and manage 5,000 ATMs on a purely variable model.
By end of March 31,2010, the bank had 4,293 ATMs. Prizm will be setting up 3,500 ATMs while AGS Infotech will set up 1,500 ATMs.
The ATMs will be owned and managed by the two service providers and bank will not incur capital expenditure, it will only look after cash settlement and will pay the service providers a fee per transaction.
Bank will pay Rs 13-15 for each cash withdrawal, for balance enquiry it will pay Rs 3-5 to the two service providers. In case of third-party transactions, in which a non -Axis Bank customer uses the ATMs, charges over and above the fixed fee will be split between the bank and the service provider.
On the other hand State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender has the largest ATM in the country with 18,246 units as on December 31, 2009, followed by ICICI Bank with 5,219 ATMs as on March 31. Then is HDFC Bank with 4,232 ATMs.
After this deal Axis Bank will have the second-largest ATM network in the country told the person quoted earlier.
Since the implementation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms according to which banks cannot charge customers for cash withdrawals, for banks setting up and managing ATMs has become a costly affair. Whenever a customer uses an ATM of another bank, his bank has to pay the bank whose ATM is used an interchange fee of about Rs 18.
Earlier, in April last year, on the directive of RBI banks had stopped charging even third-party customers for ATM withdrawals. But when banks requested RBI to withdraw this directive as the banks were facing lose, they were permitted to charge customers who had used their quota of five free third-party transactions per month.
Thus most of the banks are trying to avoid the expense and headache of setting up and managing ATMs by following an outsourcing model.
Last year, State Bank of India had signed an agreement with C-Edge for outsourcing ATMs. Even the smaller banks such YES Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank are adopting this model.
A senior executive of a private sector bank said, “While RBI has given banks some respite from the free-ATM rule, we think it’s just a matter of time before ATMs become free again. This will increase ATM expenses for banks.”
An official connected to the development told bank has signed the contract with two companies Prizm Payment Services and AGS Infotech to set up and manage 5,000 ATMs on a purely variable model.
By end of March 31,2010, the bank had 4,293 ATMs. Prizm will be setting up 3,500 ATMs while AGS Infotech will set up 1,500 ATMs.
The ATMs will be owned and managed by the two service providers and bank will not incur capital expenditure, it will only look after cash settlement and will pay the service providers a fee per transaction.
Bank will pay Rs 13-15 for each cash withdrawal, for balance enquiry it will pay Rs 3-5 to the two service providers. In case of third-party transactions, in which a non -Axis Bank customer uses the ATMs, charges over and above the fixed fee will be split between the bank and the service provider.
On the other hand State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender has the largest ATM in the country with 18,246 units as on December 31, 2009, followed by ICICI Bank with 5,219 ATMs as on March 31. Then is HDFC Bank with 4,232 ATMs.
After this deal Axis Bank will have the second-largest ATM network in the country told the person quoted earlier.
Since the implementation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms according to which banks cannot charge customers for cash withdrawals, for banks setting up and managing ATMs has become a costly affair. Whenever a customer uses an ATM of another bank, his bank has to pay the bank whose ATM is used an interchange fee of about Rs 18.
Earlier, in April last year, on the directive of RBI banks had stopped charging even third-party customers for ATM withdrawals. But when banks requested RBI to withdraw this directive as the banks were facing lose, they were permitted to charge customers who had used their quota of five free third-party transactions per month.
Thus most of the banks are trying to avoid the expense and headache of setting up and managing ATMs by following an outsourcing model.
Last year, State Bank of India had signed an agreement with C-Edge for outsourcing ATMs. Even the smaller banks such YES Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank are adopting this model.
A senior executive of a private sector bank said, “While RBI has given banks some respite from the free-ATM rule, we think it’s just a matter of time before ATMs become free again. This will increase ATM expenses for banks.”
Friday, May 14, 2010
BPBEA to go on three-day ATM strike this month
In Bengal the ATMs will remain closed for three days as the Bengal Provincial Bank Employees' Association will be going on strike three-day ATM strike later this month. For three days people will have to stand in long queues to withdraw money.
The Association is demanding for minimum wages notification by the Centre and eight-hours-a-day work for ATM contract employees. It has decided to shutdown on May 17, 28 and 29. The ATMs of 14 PSU banks, including SBI, and five private sector banks are under purview of the strike.
The banks that will be affected include Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, United Bank of India, UCO Bank, Andhra Bank, Vijaya Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Yes Bank, Federal Bank and Karur Vysya Bank. These banks have over 2,000 ATMs across the state and have over 4,000 contract employees.
Earlier BPBEA had observed a strike in ATMs of five PSU banks on February 12 this year. BPBEA general secretary Rajen Nagar told that in spite of assurances, most of the PSU banks and some private banks have not revised the wages of ATM contract employees. He added, "We know customers will suffer because of the strike but we have no other option".
He further said, "ATM contract employees in other banks get Rs 2,000-3,000, which is lower than the subsistence wage. The working hours are longer than the stipulated hours. This cannot go on indefinitely".
The Association is demanding for minimum wages notification by the Centre and eight-hours-a-day work for ATM contract employees. It has decided to shutdown on May 17, 28 and 29. The ATMs of 14 PSU banks, including SBI, and five private sector banks are under purview of the strike.
The banks that will be affected include Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, United Bank of India, UCO Bank, Andhra Bank, Vijaya Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Yes Bank, Federal Bank and Karur Vysya Bank. These banks have over 2,000 ATMs across the state and have over 4,000 contract employees.
Earlier BPBEA had observed a strike in ATMs of five PSU banks on February 12 this year. BPBEA general secretary Rajen Nagar told that in spite of assurances, most of the PSU banks and some private banks have not revised the wages of ATM contract employees. He added, "We know customers will suffer because of the strike but we have no other option".
He further said, "ATM contract employees in other banks get Rs 2,000-3,000, which is lower than the subsistence wage. The working hours are longer than the stipulated hours. This cannot go on indefinitely".
Thursday, May 13, 2010
In 2009-10 banks cancelled 6 million credit cards and reduced issuing of cards
In 2009-10 there was sharp cut down on issuing of credit cards and many banks closed a number of cards during this period. According to records last fiscal six million credit cards or about a quarter of the total number of cards a year were cancelled.
According to the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India by March 2010, around 18.3 million of cards were circulated this was the level about five years ago.
In June 2008 credit card industry has touched a peak level of 27 million cards after this in two years time slide in credit card industry started and in next nine months, the industry cancelled about three million cards.
Then in the last fiscal especially in March 2010, there was increase in pace when around two million cards were out of use.
During economic slowdown there was increase in defaults in the credit card industry as well as unsecured personal loans portfolio due to which many banks started restructuring their growth strategy. Apart from this, the strict warnings from RBI and court regarding aggressive recovery practices forced many banks to go slow in this business.
Besides cutting down in new issuances, banks also started cutting down credit limits for existing customers to reduce risk in default. Also the accounting rules forced banks to cull out inactive and risky cards as they were required to set apart more capital against unused credit limits.
These measures have even resulted in drop in card spending, in 2009-10 card spending dropped to 4%. Thus total credit card spend fell to Rs 62,852 crore.
As a result the top players of credit card industry such as ICICI bank, the top card issuer, cut the number of its cards by a third during the last one year.
At present it is having about five million cards against a peak of about nine million cards two years ago.
Banks also tightened their credit card norms thus they issue cards very selectively - only to customers with whom it has a long-standing relationship.
At its peak level bank was issuing over two lakh cards a month.
Now it is less than a thousand a month.
However, now you are not thrust with unsolicited credit cards. In fact it has become difficult to get a credit card.
According to the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India by March 2010, around 18.3 million of cards were circulated this was the level about five years ago.
In June 2008 credit card industry has touched a peak level of 27 million cards after this in two years time slide in credit card industry started and in next nine months, the industry cancelled about three million cards.
Then in the last fiscal especially in March 2010, there was increase in pace when around two million cards were out of use.
During economic slowdown there was increase in defaults in the credit card industry as well as unsecured personal loans portfolio due to which many banks started restructuring their growth strategy. Apart from this, the strict warnings from RBI and court regarding aggressive recovery practices forced many banks to go slow in this business.
Besides cutting down in new issuances, banks also started cutting down credit limits for existing customers to reduce risk in default. Also the accounting rules forced banks to cull out inactive and risky cards as they were required to set apart more capital against unused credit limits.
These measures have even resulted in drop in card spending, in 2009-10 card spending dropped to 4%. Thus total credit card spend fell to Rs 62,852 crore.
As a result the top players of credit card industry such as ICICI bank, the top card issuer, cut the number of its cards by a third during the last one year.
At present it is having about five million cards against a peak of about nine million cards two years ago.
Banks also tightened their credit card norms thus they issue cards very selectively - only to customers with whom it has a long-standing relationship.
At its peak level bank was issuing over two lakh cards a month.
Now it is less than a thousand a month.
However, now you are not thrust with unsolicited credit cards. In fact it has become difficult to get a credit card.
Monday, May 10, 2010
The latest form of fraud – bank’s SMS alert system blocked by phisher
People who are involved in online frauds use advance methods. Recently, a 42-year-old Chennai-based customer's SMS alert informing money withdrawals was blocked by phishers after fraudulently obtaining online banking information of the victim. This is a first of its kind case therefore a thorough probe is being done to find its modus operandi.
The victim received the phishing email in February, the email looked as if it was sent by a nationalized bank where he has an account with online and mobile banking facility. “Taking it for real, the complainant responded to the email asking to update his online and mobile bank account to refrain from debarment,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime Cell) M. Sudhakar.
The victim when visited an ATM few days late he found that all the money from his account was withdrawn. He was puzzled that he did not receive any SMS alert on his mobile phone on the withdrawal, thus he contacted the bank and later, lodged a police complaint.
According to preliminary police investigations the phishing mail was sent from Lagos in Nigeria and Rs. 60,000 that was illegally transferred from the victim's account was deposited in two nationalized bank accounts in Lucknow and Jaipur. The accounts were blocked immediately and sums of Rs. 43,000 and Rs.17,000 has been recovered from them.
Dr. Sudhakar told, “After obtaining confidential online banking details of the complainant through the phishing mail, the culprit de-activated the SMS alert in order to keep the victim unaware of the money transfer from his account as long as possible.”
This type of case is the first one to be reported in which an SMS alert was blocked before money transfer, he added.
Although the money lost was minimal, the Cyber Crime Cell has carried out a detailed investigation into how the phisher in Lagos managed to go to the extent of deactivating the mobile alert system.
Also, police is trying to track the account-holders of the bank accounts in Lucknow and Jaipur hit a roadblock after it was found to be opened for non-existing business houses.
He added that illegal online money transfer can be reduced, only when banks verify with the respective customer on every request for an online money transfer from overseas. “The culprit in Lagos cannot be apprehended as there is no international law to extradite him.”
Pointing towards the case, city Police Commissioner T. Rajendran said it is necessary that an international apex body investigate cyber crime. He added, “The number of arrests made in cyber crime cases here is very less now as most culprits operate from overseas.”
The victim received the phishing email in February, the email looked as if it was sent by a nationalized bank where he has an account with online and mobile banking facility. “Taking it for real, the complainant responded to the email asking to update his online and mobile bank account to refrain from debarment,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime Cell) M. Sudhakar.
The victim when visited an ATM few days late he found that all the money from his account was withdrawn. He was puzzled that he did not receive any SMS alert on his mobile phone on the withdrawal, thus he contacted the bank and later, lodged a police complaint.
According to preliminary police investigations the phishing mail was sent from Lagos in Nigeria and Rs. 60,000 that was illegally transferred from the victim's account was deposited in two nationalized bank accounts in Lucknow and Jaipur. The accounts were blocked immediately and sums of Rs. 43,000 and Rs.17,000 has been recovered from them.
Dr. Sudhakar told, “After obtaining confidential online banking details of the complainant through the phishing mail, the culprit de-activated the SMS alert in order to keep the victim unaware of the money transfer from his account as long as possible.”
This type of case is the first one to be reported in which an SMS alert was blocked before money transfer, he added.
Although the money lost was minimal, the Cyber Crime Cell has carried out a detailed investigation into how the phisher in Lagos managed to go to the extent of deactivating the mobile alert system.
Also, police is trying to track the account-holders of the bank accounts in Lucknow and Jaipur hit a roadblock after it was found to be opened for non-existing business houses.
He added that illegal online money transfer can be reduced, only when banks verify with the respective customer on every request for an online money transfer from overseas. “The culprit in Lagos cannot be apprehended as there is no international law to extradite him.”
Pointing towards the case, city Police Commissioner T. Rajendran said it is necessary that an international apex body investigate cyber crime. He added, “The number of arrests made in cyber crime cases here is very less now as most culprits operate from overseas.”
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Credit & Debit Card information extracted by hackers earned a huge premium
In 2009 although there was economic crisis in the country but credit card information, wrongfully extracted by hackers, earned a huge premium in the grey market, it was more than double the price in comparison to a year earlier.
In some cases, data encrypted on the magnetic strip of credit cards was sold at six times more. The sites using username and password such as PayPal where account holders can with draw cash fetched around $600 per account.
Whereas in the past one year the bank credentials like account numbers, net banking transaction access codes and personal account passwords have become little cheaper. Also the e-mail passwords have also become cheaper over the past one year.
According to a leading web security firm Symantec credit card information along with the card verification value (CVV) — was for $30 per card during 2009 against $12 in 2008. CVV is the three-digit number on the opposite side of the card and is a must for making online transactions.
The data encrypted on the magnetic strip of a credit card, referred to as credit card dumps, contains the primary account number and the expiration date as well as card-holder’s name. Each credit card issuer has its own standards for encoding this information. The highest price for such information increased to $140 per card in 2009 against $25 per card in the previous year.
However during 2008, the user name and password of sites, including PayPal, referred to as cash-out services were sold at 50% of the total value of the cash that could be siphoned off from a single account but in 2009 the prices increased to $600 flat.
But the price of bank account information dropped from $1,000 in 2008 to $850 in 2009. During the same period e-mail accounts were sold at $20 on the higher side during 2009 against $30 in the previous year. Officials from Symantec said: “Credit card info and bank accounts still top advertised items in the underground economy. However, credit card dumps saw a marked increase in advertisements.”
Abhinav Karnwal, product marketing manager, APEC Trend Micro, pointed out, “Popularly called underground economy, there are a set of hackers who deploy various malicious methods to extract sensitive data from unsuspecting PC users. Having extracted a sizeable volume, they advertise on various sites to sell them. The potential of financial gain from these data determines the price for any set of information.”
Then there are hackers who just want to make money by selling stolen information. Mr Karnwal said, “The ones that steal the information may not always want to use them and, therefore, remain unidentified. Hence, they are satisfied with selling them in the underground economy. The ones that buy them are capable or intend to take more risks than the ones that steal the information... Interestingly, there are two distinct sets of people.”
He explained, “Prices of credit card information have gone up because credit limits offered were raised over the past one year. Prices of bank account information have declined because it is becoming increasingly difficult to use bank information to siphon off funds”.
He added, “Prices are also dependent on factors like average credit limits on cards in specific countries. For example, credit card information in the US will fetch higher prices than those in India or Bangladesh. In contrast, bank account or debit card information from countries like India will fetch more money than in the US since Indians have a propensity to save and, therefore, likely to have more funds in their bank accounts than an average US citizen”.
In some cases, data encrypted on the magnetic strip of credit cards was sold at six times more. The sites using username and password such as PayPal where account holders can with draw cash fetched around $600 per account.
Whereas in the past one year the bank credentials like account numbers, net banking transaction access codes and personal account passwords have become little cheaper. Also the e-mail passwords have also become cheaper over the past one year.
According to a leading web security firm Symantec credit card information along with the card verification value (CVV) — was for $30 per card during 2009 against $12 in 2008. CVV is the three-digit number on the opposite side of the card and is a must for making online transactions.
The data encrypted on the magnetic strip of a credit card, referred to as credit card dumps, contains the primary account number and the expiration date as well as card-holder’s name. Each credit card issuer has its own standards for encoding this information. The highest price for such information increased to $140 per card in 2009 against $25 per card in the previous year.
However during 2008, the user name and password of sites, including PayPal, referred to as cash-out services were sold at 50% of the total value of the cash that could be siphoned off from a single account but in 2009 the prices increased to $600 flat.
But the price of bank account information dropped from $1,000 in 2008 to $850 in 2009. During the same period e-mail accounts were sold at $20 on the higher side during 2009 against $30 in the previous year. Officials from Symantec said: “Credit card info and bank accounts still top advertised items in the underground economy. However, credit card dumps saw a marked increase in advertisements.”
Abhinav Karnwal, product marketing manager, APEC Trend Micro, pointed out, “Popularly called underground economy, there are a set of hackers who deploy various malicious methods to extract sensitive data from unsuspecting PC users. Having extracted a sizeable volume, they advertise on various sites to sell them. The potential of financial gain from these data determines the price for any set of information.”
Then there are hackers who just want to make money by selling stolen information. Mr Karnwal said, “The ones that steal the information may not always want to use them and, therefore, remain unidentified. Hence, they are satisfied with selling them in the underground economy. The ones that buy them are capable or intend to take more risks than the ones that steal the information... Interestingly, there are two distinct sets of people.”
He explained, “Prices of credit card information have gone up because credit limits offered were raised over the past one year. Prices of bank account information have declined because it is becoming increasingly difficult to use bank information to siphon off funds”.
He added, “Prices are also dependent on factors like average credit limits on cards in specific countries. For example, credit card information in the US will fetch higher prices than those in India or Bangladesh. In contrast, bank account or debit card information from countries like India will fetch more money than in the US since Indians have a propensity to save and, therefore, likely to have more funds in their bank accounts than an average US citizen”.
Yes Bank to roll out credit cards by end of current fiscal
Yes bank is planning to expand its retail segment thus it will be rolling out its credit cards by the end of present financial year. Yes Bank is the youngest private sector bank in India is also planning to increase its home loan and auto loan business by March 2012, said Rana Kapoor, founder, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.
At present bank is having 150 retail branches in 26 states, by the end of the current financial year bank will be adding 100 more branches to its branch network. In a conference while announcing bank’s annual results said, “We will take our branch count to 250 by end of March 2011.” By March end 2010 bank have 210,000 of retail customers and around 500,000 of borrowing clients (companies).
Besides credit cards, to take its retail banking business on growing path bank is also looking at loans to small and medium enterprises (SME), unsecured loans to small businesses, mortgage loans and auto loans. Kapoor said, the bank is working on increasing its retail branch presence in tier-I and Tier-II cities to 750 branches by 2015.
In order to provide funds for its growth plans it will be raising Rs 1,500 crore as hybrid tier-I and tier-II capital in the present financial year. Kapoor said, . “We have enough headroom to raise around Rs 1,500 crore of hybrid capital, which will be raised domestically.” He added, “In a rising interest rate environment, it is better to raise money.” Earlier in January 2010 bank had raised around Rs 225 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and Rs 2,100 crore capital, where LIC was the single biggest contributor with Rs 600 crore.
In the fourth quarter of the past financial year bank registered 74.8 per cent increase in their net profit from Rs 80.1 crore in Q4 FY09 to Rs 140 crore in Q4 FY10.
Bank witnessed growth by 78.98 per cent in its advances in March 2010 to Rs 22,193.1 crore, against Rs 12,403.1 crore in March 2009. Its deposits reported a growth by 65 per cent from Rs 26,796 crore in March 2010, against Rs 16,169 crore in March 2009. However the cost of funds for the bank stood at 6.9 per cent in FY10, against 9 per cent in FY09.
In Q4FY10 bank net interest margin marginally increased by 3.2 per cent as against 3 per cent in Q4FY09. Kapoor said, “We should be able to keep our net interest margins at the three-plus-level in coming year too.” On the other hand bank net non-performing assets reduced from 0.33 per cent in March 2009 to 0.6 per cent in March 2010.
At present bank is having 150 retail branches in 26 states, by the end of the current financial year bank will be adding 100 more branches to its branch network. In a conference while announcing bank’s annual results said, “We will take our branch count to 250 by end of March 2011.” By March end 2010 bank have 210,000 of retail customers and around 500,000 of borrowing clients (companies).
Besides credit cards, to take its retail banking business on growing path bank is also looking at loans to small and medium enterprises (SME), unsecured loans to small businesses, mortgage loans and auto loans. Kapoor said, the bank is working on increasing its retail branch presence in tier-I and Tier-II cities to 750 branches by 2015.
In order to provide funds for its growth plans it will be raising Rs 1,500 crore as hybrid tier-I and tier-II capital in the present financial year. Kapoor said, . “We have enough headroom to raise around Rs 1,500 crore of hybrid capital, which will be raised domestically.” He added, “In a rising interest rate environment, it is better to raise money.” Earlier in January 2010 bank had raised around Rs 225 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and Rs 2,100 crore capital, where LIC was the single biggest contributor with Rs 600 crore.
In the fourth quarter of the past financial year bank registered 74.8 per cent increase in their net profit from Rs 80.1 crore in Q4 FY09 to Rs 140 crore in Q4 FY10.
Bank witnessed growth by 78.98 per cent in its advances in March 2010 to Rs 22,193.1 crore, against Rs 12,403.1 crore in March 2009. Its deposits reported a growth by 65 per cent from Rs 26,796 crore in March 2010, against Rs 16,169 crore in March 2009. However the cost of funds for the bank stood at 6.9 per cent in FY10, against 9 per cent in FY09.
In Q4FY10 bank net interest margin marginally increased by 3.2 per cent as against 3 per cent in Q4FY09. Kapoor said, “We should be able to keep our net interest margins at the three-plus-level in coming year too.” On the other hand bank net non-performing assets reduced from 0.33 per cent in March 2009 to 0.6 per cent in March 2010.
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