You could be the next victim of a $2 billion criminal enterprise
Another unintended consequence of fraud-fighting. As banks issue more and more EMV-compliant cards in order to reduce the counterfeiting of credit and debit cards, fraudsters are turning to other less protected avenues to get their hands on your money.
This is according to a new report titled “Contact Centers: The Fraud Enable Channel.” by Boston-based Aite Group LLC.
One such avenue is your bank’s contact center, the place you call when you have a problem with your card or account. Fraudsters will order replacement cards on your account and thus take it over. Sometimes this requires your personal information stolen in another crime like a data breach or easily poached through social media.
Perpetrators of this type of crime can also request that a new person be added to your account with a new card being issued to him. He could also ask to open a new account in your name using your personal data, which he has already stolen.
Because these ID thieves have already stolen your personal data they know where you live and can stake out your mailbox and intercept the new card while you are at work, before you ever see it. Thus, adding mail theft to his list of criminal offenses. And the nature of the crime is such that you would never even know that a new card was on its way.
One of these thieves might also call the help desk and pretend he is you while traveling and claim to need your account number in order to make an online purchase.
Counterfeit cards is a $2 billion a year illicit business is the U.S. ¾ of financial institutions contacted by Aite about contact-center fraud said this type of fraud is on the upswing. Of the institutions that have seen a rise in fraud. 17% say it has jumped at least 25% in the prior year. For the report Aite interviewed 25 executives from 18 of the 40 largest financial institutions.
To read the Aite report on contact center fraud, visit the Aite website at aitegroup.com/report/contact-centers-fraud-enablement-channel
