Types of Credit Card Fraud:

Application Fraud

Intercept Fraud

Lost and Stolen Cards

Skimming

Site Cloning and False Merchant Sites

Triangulation

Credit Card Generators

The creation of fake and doctored cards represents the last of the major traditional forms of credit card fraud.  Whether it be creating a completely fake card from scratch, or altering an existing card to show different details, the fraudsters are constantly finding new and more innovative ways to create fake or doctored cards.

Doctored Cards
The most simple way a fraudster can go about tampering with an existing card that he or she has acquired is to erase the metallic strip with a powerful electro-magnet and then to tamper with the details on the card so that they match the details of a valid card, which they may have attained from a stolen till roll. When the fraudster goes to use the card, the cashier will swipe the card through the terminal several times, before realising that the metallic strip does not work. The cashier will then proceed to manually input the card details into the terminal. This form of fraud is very risky because the cashier will be looking at the card closely to read the numbers. Doctored cards are, as with many of the traditional methods of credit card fraud becoming an outdated method of illicit accumulation of either funds or goods.

Fake Cards
The creation of fake cards is also beginning to become outdated by modern credit card fraud techniques. Fake cards require a lot of effort and skill to produce. Modern cards have many security features all designed to make it difficult for fraudsters to make good quality forgeries. Holograms have been introduced to nearly all credit cards. Holograms are very difficult to forge effectively. Embossing holograms onto the card itself is another problem for card forgers.

The next four sections look at the methods used by the majority of contemporary credit card fraudsters. These methods are highly sophisticated, yet very accessible to many criminal minded individuals.