Victims of Online Dating Scams Unknowingly Participate in Credit Card Fraud

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to warn Americans of online dating scams after noticing a steady rise in the numbers of victims who fall for this extortion scheme. However, they also noticed that many victims were tricked into unknowingly participating in credit card fraud. These victims were wrongfully accused of more serious offenses, while most of them ended up with huge debts and ruined credit scores because of this. There are also recent scam complaints and Web crime reports in BigScammers.Com about this.

Online dating fraud is basically an extortion scheme that's designed to blackmail unsuspecting users of popular dating sites and apps to pay considerable amounts of money. Some users also become victims of credit card fraud after using their credit cards to pay the money that's demanded by the scammer. Here's how this scam works:

• How Online Dating Scams Are Done

Fraudsters pose as legitimate users of dating sites and apps where their target victims hang out. They act like they're just looking for their ideal dates in these Internet dating platforms. They use enticing photos and stolen details for their profiles, and send out compelling private messages to lure unsuspecting users into responding to their messages. They then steadily build rapport with the users who respond. These are all very different tactics compared to the schemes that many fraudsters use to commit credit card fraud, but how does this become an extortion scheme from this point?

Well, as scammer builds trust with other users in these dating sites and apps, they also try to convince their victims to engage in intimate conversations. They do this to be able to record their voice chats and take screenshots of their text chat logs. Since many fraudsters target married middle-aged men and women for their online dating scams, they can then blackmail them into paying a hefty sum of money. They do this by threatening to directly send these recordings and screenshots to their spouses, children, employers, relatives and friends, and to also publish these all over the Internet. A lot of scammers demand payments to be sent through cash-only remittance centers, but some say they accept credit cards, in an effort to also commit credit card fraud and steal the account details of their victims. They use these stolen credit cards for their other illegal activities online and offline.

However, how are online dating scam victims tricked by scammers to unknowingly participate in credit card fraud? Well, since fraudsters think of different ways to exploit the vulnerabilities of their target victims and to gain as much benefit as possible from them, a lot of organized crime groups and solo scammers have created fake business opportunity offers that they pitch to their online dating scam victims. Here's how it works:

• How Online Dating Scam Victims Become Participants of Credit Card Fraud

Fraudsters try to convince their online dating scam victims to partner up with them for the promise of huge profits with very little effort. They ask them to register businesses, get online merchant accounts and just manage the registration and tax-related paperwork of the newly registered businesses. What a lot of victims don't know is that scammers just use the online merchant accounts to commit credit card fraud. They do this by cashing out stolen credit cards through these online merchant accounts.

Since newly registered businesses can only get online merchant accounts when the registered owner of the business signs the account application with his or her personal guarantee, victims end up with huge debts, ruined credit scores and other legal complications that are caused by fraud investigations. These happen after excessive chargebacks, disputes and claims against credit card fraud are filed by the legitimate owners of the stolen credit cards that were cashed out through the online merchant accounts.

Many victims would have been able to quickly recognize this scheme as a scam and could have avoided participating in credit card fraud if they knew these tactics beforehand. To prevent similar complications, you should sign up at BigScammers.Com to receive instant email alerts whenever a victim posts a new scam complaint or files a Web crime report in the user-generated content repository of this online community.

Operation, Prevention and Post-Victimization Steps for Credit Card Fraud

Credit Card Fraud occurs when the fraudsters use the credit card of another person for making financial gain for themselves. It has been reported by Statistic Brain that 10% of Americans are falling victim to frauds associated with credit card.  It is therefore essential that you know about the operation, prevention and post-victimization steps, related to credit card fraud

OPERATION

The operators of credit card fraud use the information of your credit card, without your knowledge or permission for making unauthorized purchases or withdrawal of cash. As per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the following are the operation strategies adopted for committing a credit card fraud.

●     Theft: This is the most common mean in which the fraudster steals your credit card, physically, either from your wallet or the whole wallet.

●    Dumpster Driving: The fraudsters thoroughly search your waste paper box or garbage bin and pick out the thrown out statements; such as credit card statement, bank statements or purchase receipts that carry your personal information. They also pick your unused credit card applications.

●     Skimming: The fraudster or a hidden camera, takes photographs of your credit card or watches your operation of entering your PIN

●     Phishing: Fraudsters, posing themselves to be from your bank or credit companies, through emails or phone calls, ask you to confirm the details such as your account number, account passwords, social security number or log in information

●     Hacked Website: Hackers break into the servers of large companies and steal the credit card information of customers. Therefore, such large companies are adopting heavily adopted encrypted systems for deterring the hackers

PROTECTIONS

The first step is to prevent it from happening by adopting presence of mind, prudence, alertness and strict vigilance. Keep your card and statements in the most secure place. Never carry your credit card or other documents containing your personal information,  in your wallet; and never lend your credit card; even to your closest friend or family member. Opting for electronic statement, instead of paper copies is still better. If you don’t need the old statements, toss them out after shredding the same. The following are other means of protection

●   Check your account regularly and be alert of any entry of  unexpected transaction, particularly related to purchase

●    Safe Shopping locations: Do not make any purchase on a public wireless network or public computer. In case of any suspicion, investigate first and log off the site after making a purchase

●   Identity Theft Protection: Invest on Identity Theft protection, if you have many consistent buying, online and have time to look into your transactions, regularly.

Post-Victimization Steps

According to FTC, if you immediately inform the theft of your credit card, your liability is limited to $50 and nil for subsequent charges. The following are the steps to be followed

●     Inform your credit card issuer about the situation

●     Inform all the three credit card bureaus so that they flag your account

●     Submit a Police Report

●     File a complaint with the FTC

●     Take out any credit card information, stored on any online stores

●     Hire Credit Monitoring Service that informs you any such eventuality.

Types of Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud is one of the most common forms of fraud circulating today. Fraudsters commonly target credit card information because it is the primary mode of accepted payment online, making it an easy target for illegal activities. Over the years, the number of fraud reports related to credit card has been growing at an alarming rate. Fraudsters are taking advantage of credit card vulnerabilities every chance they get, which is the reason why credit card providers, businesses and the government are constantly finding ways to resolve the problem.

Fraudsters commit credit card fraud in various ways. The tactics and platform that they use are constantly changing and varied, making it difficult to issue an all in one solution that can cover or beat all types of card fraud. To give you some ideas of the different types of card fraud, see the list below;

• Account Takeover

Fraudsters who commit this type of fraud begin their malicious scheme by obtaining your personal information. The plan is to gain access to your personal information without raising any suspicion. Using your personal information, the fraudster may contact your credit card provider by assuming your identity and requesting for a replacement card, using a lost credit card as an excuse.

• Counterfeit Credit Card

Credit card fraud is not only a major concern in card not present transactions (CNP), even offline stores that require the actual credit card to process sales also suffer from malicious credit card schemes such as counterfeit credit cards. Counterfeit credit cards are cloned copies of a legit working credit card. The only way someone can make a clone of your card is if they have physical access to your card, which usually happens in restaurants or during shopping. This is one of the reasons why you shouldn’t hand your credit card to anyone without your supervision.

• Lost or Stolen Credit Card 

This probably one of the most typical types of card fraud. Fraudsters often take advantage of your stolen credit card information so they can use it to fund their illegal activities online without giving away their identity or personal information. Fraudsters may use various ways to get your information such as, malware deployment, hacking or phishing scams.

•  Application Fraud

This type of fraud is similar to account take over. The only difference is instead of asking for a replacement card. Fraudsters use your stolen information to apply for new credit cards and have them sent to a different address.

These are just some of the most common types of credit card fraud. Familiarizing yourself with these malicious schemes allows you to identify fraud faster, giving you the chance to take the necessary steps to secure your personal and financial information so you don’t fall victim to the same card fraud scheme. Aside from learning different types of credit card fraud, it is also imperative to familiarize yourself with the best solutions and protective options that you can utilize against credit card fraud.

Big Scammers Credit Card Fraud Update - Top Scams This 2017

Victims of credit card fraud need to jump through a lot of hoops to resolve some time-sensitive issues that could cause more problems for them. You must call your card-issuing bank or credit card company to file a dispute or a chargeback against each illegitimate transaction that you see in your statement. To make sure that you don't miss anything you should carefully review your previous statements, which could take a lot of your time.

You also need to ask your bank to suspend your compromised credit cards and request replacements from them. This could take a couple of weeks or so, leaving you without anything to use, especially for emergency situations. Also keep in mind that credit card fraud often results from identity theft. This means you're most likely susceptible to more serious problems when your stolen details are used for other illegal online and offline activities.

So, it's imperative for you to learn how to safely avoid credit fraud, or at least to quickly recognize potential scams and the like. To do this, you need to know the most prevalent forms of card not present scams out there today. To help you out, here's a list of the latest scams from the reports of many users who recently posted complaints in Big Scammers against similar scams:

Newest Credit Card Fraud & Scams This 2017

1. Jury Duty Scam - This is where social manipulation tactics are mainly used to commit credit card fraud. Criminal groups and fraudsters who operate this scam buy the contact details of their target victims from other criminals who sell stolen information from hacked databases. They then call unsuspecting users, pose as official agents of nearby courts, and scare them with huge penalties and fees for not showing up at a non-existent jury duty summons supposedly sent to them.

At that point where their victims are scared and confused, the scammer informs them that they can help them clear out any issues by confirming a few details. They ask for the user's personal details, private information, sensitive credentials and credit card data. These stolen details are then used to commit credit card fraud among other scams.

2. Debt Relief Scam - This is where scammers call unsuspecting users for a fake offer. They pose as official representatives of the target victim's bank. The scammer then uses social manipulation tactics to fool users into believing that they can get lower interest rates on their credit cards, mortgages and loans. Once they bait the user, they reel them in, closer to their credit card fraud.

Sometimes, criminals also offer loans at irresistible interest rates and with lucrative repayment schedules. Of course, these are fake offers. They just deceive users by telling them to confirm their personal details and financial account credentials. They then use these stolen details to commit credit card fraud and other serious scams.

There are many other tactics and schemes that a lot of criminal groups and fraudsters use to commit card fraud and identity theft. The ones above are among the most widespread scams this 2017. To avoid the newest online crimes, you should keep at pace with the most recent variants of cyber fraud. BigScammers.Com can help you do this. All you need to do is to simply sign up to this online community. You'll receive instant email notifications whenever users update the content repository of this website with their scam complaints, Web crime reports, scams, tips and pieces of advice.

Credit Card Fraud and Remedies in the World of E-Commerce

With the unprecedented expansion and growth of internet commerce, more and more retailers are openings up online retail stores. Credit card fraud acts as a threatening force that dampens the benefits that flow to end-users from technology. Especially in the case of naïve and start-up entrepreneurs who are yet to learn the finer details of payment processing online, instances of credit card fraud are increasing at an alarming rate. Some caution points to young owners of online retail stores would include:

●     Widening knowledge base on credit card fraud

Credit card fraud gains momentum with ignorance and carelessness. Entrepreneurs seldom pay attention to educating themselves on the multifarious techniques used by scammers to manipulate and forge credit cards. This is because they are so entangled in core business and profit making that they neglect anti-fraud measures. Keeping abreast of popular instances of major e-commerce credit card frauds will impart better knowledge.

●     Using safe and secure payment methods against credit card fraud

Small businesses must make that critical extra investment and go in for payment processors that are of global repute. Such trusted payment processors employ verification techniques such as Verified by Visa and in the case of Mastercard, the securecode.  Business owners may take further precautions like embedding two factor authentications that will foil attempts to enter credit card details obtained by fraudulent means. Making it mandatory for customers to enter CVV, or a one time password that is sent to the registered mobile number of the genuine card holder are all extra layers of security,

●     Subscribing for a holistic online credit card fraud prevention system

There are a range of cost effective options available that are within reach of the affordability of new and small e-commerce establishments. Such custom-made credit card fraud prevention technologies are capable of integration with existing systems. The presence of fraud detection filters, a sharpened verification system on customer history and track record, using a host of online analytical and verification tools etc. are some features of these fraud prevention solutions. These tools are powered to highlight suspicious cases where the issue can be raised with the issuing bank or the credit card company to assert credibility of the user.

●     Curtailing instances of chargeback

The constant worry among ecommerce entrepreneurs are increasing instances of chargebacks. A chargeback occurs when a customer uses a fake credit card number and the transaction is denied by the credit card issuer. A chargeback action is triggered when the customer realizes an element of identity fraud and alerts the issuer not to honor the transaction. Under chargeback which is yet another undesirable offshoot of credit card fraud, the ecommerce business becomes liable for the amount in question. The different options that are available for businesses to escape from these consequences are to reduce information gaps, ensuring that merchant processors keep the business informed of chargebacks instantly, so that corrective measures can be taken.

●     Dedicating at least a few resources to detect credit card fraud

Cyber security is something that cannot be compromised. Based on affordability and volume of transactions, businesses must have an in-house team or an outsourced one, dedicated to cyber security.