ECT Act prosecution - possession of a skimming device

[dominic]

http://www.finance24.com/articles/b...?Nav=ns&lvl2=buss&ArticleID=1518-1786_1730245

Cape Town - A shop assistant has become the first person in the Western Cape to be charged with violating the new Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, for the illegal possession of a "skimming" device.

The device accesses electronic passwords and other secret data, and is used in scams to unlawfully read encoded data on the magnetic strips on credit and debit cards.

Raafiq Mohammed, 22, appeared in plea-bargain proceedings before magistrate Hennie le Roux in the Cape Town Magistrate's court, where he received a 12-month jail sentence, conditionally suspended for five years.

He worked for Extreme Eyewear at the V&A Waterfront and was arrested after his employer caught him in possession of the skimmer.

He had been unable to give a reasonable explanation for his possession of the device.

According to the document, an unnamed Bulgarian client at Extreme Eyewear introduced him to the device, and initiated the scam.
Mohammed's role in the intended scam had been to swipe the credit or debit cards of customers through the device, in order to capture electronic account information encoded on the magnetic strips of the cards.

The data gleaned was to be used to forge the credit or debit cards of financial institutions, or in other fraudulent transactions.

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its sooooooo easy to take your money....

 

[VQuest]

This is pretty serious stuff. Thats why they say you should never let your credit card leave your sight. Although thats not always possible.

I think he should have received a longer sentence than 12 months.

 

[andres101]

hopefully with the introduction of smart-cards, this won't be a problem anymore.

btw, has anybody received a smart-card credit card?

 

[dominic]

This is pretty serious stuff. Thats why they say you should never let your credit card leave your sight. Although thats not always possible.

I think he should have received a longer sentence than 12 months.

12 months suspended....i agree that it looks like it should have been more but it came out of a plea bargain (think Mark Thatcher) + it is probably a first offence + the courts do not really have much precedent to go on

for my part good to see the ECT Act being useful

 

[dominic]

hopefully with the introduction of smart-cards, this won't be a problem anymore.

btw, has anybody received a smart-card credit card?

not sure where these are at - saw something (?) about ABSA complaining to someone becuase the other banks were holding this up

 

[Darth Garth]

not sure where these are at - saw something (?) about ABSA complaining to someone becuase the other banks were holding this up

And where exactly are you going to use these smart cards ???.

The problem is not the banks but the retailers and who is going to paying them for upgrading their infrastructure and I.T systems to take on these cards ???.

We all know last time what a screwup and W..O.F.T.A.M their S.A only V.Chip cards were.

At the moment Visa/Mastercard is using the leverage of chargebacks against the retailers but the change and costs ares momumental for some of them.

 

[guest2013-1]

skimming devices have long been used. It's especially effective if you're working as a waiter in a restaurant. One person claimed he can have around 3000 credit card details within a week.

Then all you do is buy **** online, let them post it to a dummy address where someone will be waiting to collect it, and boom, free ****

 

[dominic]

And where exactly are you going to use these smart cards ???.

The problem is not the banks but the retailers and who is going to paying them for upgrading their infrastructure and I.T systems to take on these cards ???.

We all know last time what a screwup and W..O.F.T.A.M their S.A only V.Chip cards were.

At the moment Visa/Mastercard is using the leverage of chargebacks against the retailers but the change and costs ares momumental for some of them.

obviously need to sleep - tibby can you elucidate a little further...understand there are massive cost implications as retail level but surely this has been dealt with in any roll-out plan

for the rest please give me more

 

[Celemasiko]

They are introducing now creditcards with picture and fingerprints in Germany.

 

[bb_matt]

With advances in technology, surely it would be possible to get a small greyscale photo into the data on the magnetic strip ?

Stores that sell expensive equipment could then use existing hardware, linked up to their credit card machines to display that photo to verify you.

Just a 2 second visual verfication of the person with the credit card would stop a lot of "brick & mortar" credit card fraud.

 

[RoosTa]

skimming devices have long been used. It's especially effective if you're working as a waiter in a restaurant. One person claimed he can have around 3000 credit card details within a week.

Then all you do is buy **** online, let them post it to a dummy address where someone will be waiting to collect it, and boom, free ****

That must of been before they started using the 3-digit security code. That code is only displayed on the credit card and is not encrypted on the magnetic strip, to stop skimmers doing exactly that. Otherwise this guy had to write down 3000 card's security code as well in order to use them.

 

[VQuest]

With advances in technology, surely it would be possible to get a small greyscale photo into the data on the magnetic strip ?

Stores that sell expensive equipment could then use existing hardware, linked up to their credit card machines to display that photo to verify you.

Just a 2 second visual verfication of the person with the credit card would stop a lot of "brick & mortar" credit card fraud.

My US Debit card has a photo of me and my signature imprinted on the front of the card. I think it's a great idea. But it only works if you're buying in person and not online.

 

[asmith]

It amazes me that in this day and age credit card companies can get away with having so little security at all to protect credit card numbers. Not only can the cards get skimmed or otherwise made a note of, half the time the card number is on the slips that float around, or even on the statement that gets posted. Lots and lots of fraud occurs, banks try to cover it from the 2 to 5% they take from merchants on each transaction, but ultimately its the consumer that foots the bill while the banks continue to make big profits.

 

[SlimJim]

as a bank, protecting your customers cc details is almost impossible to police. without infringing on the customers freedom of use, the banks have no way to fight this effectively.
therefore the onus has to be that of the customers.

 

[Turtle]

One person claimed he can have around 3000 credit card details within a week.

Somebody you knew? Hope you turned him/her in to the cops.