[Clips] Online ID Thieves Exploit Lax ATM Security

[R.A. Hettinga]

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 Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 09:41:54 -0400
 To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
 From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
 Subject: [Clips] Online ID Thieves Exploit Lax ATM Security
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 <http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB112295453682902381,00.html>

 The Wall Street Journal

  August 2, 2005


 Online ID Thieves
  Exploit Lax ATM Security

 DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 August 2, 2005


 Online identity thieves are exploiting lax cash-machine security to bilk
 banks out of as much as a million dollars a month each, a report from
 research firm Gartner Inc. shows.

 According to the report, which is scheduled for release today, fraudsters
 are increasingly gathering consumer automated-teller-machine information
 with "phishing" scams and hacker programs for capturing keystrokes, which
 they are using to make fake cards and empty consumer bank accounts.

 Gartner said thieves are taking advantage of the fact that as many as half
 of banks don't check special, difficult-to-steal security codes that are
 hidden on ATM cards' magnetic strips before dispensing cash, Gartner says.
 Attackers even trade information online about which banks don't check the
 codes.

 "They're phishing for the account number and PIN. That's all they need to
 create a counterfeit card," said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. In phishing
 scams, fraudsters use deceptive email and Web sites to trick people into
 divulging sensitive financial information.

 ATM fraud is emerging as a major new problem for banks. Losses are
 approaching those from credit-card fraud, a Gartner survey of 5,000
 consumers found. The firm estimates ATM fraud resulted in $2.75 billion in
 losses in the year ended May 2005, compared with $2.9 billion for
 credit-card fraud and $3.5 billion for fraudulent checking-account
 transfers.

 --
 -----------------
 R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
 The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
 "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
 [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
 experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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