Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

call stating that you won an outstanding prize or the vacation of your dreams. The only problem is that for you to receive your prize, you first have to satisfy your tax obligation or a shipping fee for your prize to be delivered. One method suggested to you is paying with your Visa or MasterCard. Once the number is obtained, it is then imprinted on a bogus charge card.

These bogus charge cards are either manufactured, usually in a well-organized and equipped print shop, or stolen with inside help from the company of issue. The charge card can now easily be used for at least thirty days, which is the usual billing cycle, without threat of apprehension.

Counterfeit losses have generally represented a small percentage of volume loss for the major bank credit card companies—Visa and MasterCard International. These credit card vendors paid the problem scant attention until the involvement of organized crime and the rising losses. MasterCard lost $172,000 to counterfeiters in 1979, but $9.3 million in 1983 on a total of $41.8 billion dollars in sales. The $9.3 million is not tremendous, but the growth is alarming. According to Visa, 93 percent of U.S. counterfeiting occurs in twelve states, and card fraud operations appear to coincide with the locations of major, known organized crime families. It has been determined that 82 percent of all counterfeit and altered card transactions took place in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Lost or stolen cards are used first for large purchases by criminals. Counterfeiting and alterations are usually the second step for a stolen card. When the issuer finally hot-lists the account number, counterfeiters recycle their cards using methods ranging from the crude —cutting the numbers off and pasting them on another card —to the sophisticated—$140,000 embossing machines.

Today, there are basically three types of counterfeit cards being used: Kimble Stolen Plastic, Silkscreen and Lithographs.

Kimble Stolen Plastic

Kimble cards are the Bank of America cards that were taken in an armed robbery in 1981; they are named after the executive who made the cards at Bank of America. These cards are perfect because they are embossed with valid names and account numbers, and are difficult to detect as counterfeits because the card is flawless. These cards can be detected as counterfeit after they are embossed by the following irregularities:

1. Some will have small square outlines around the letters or the name. This is because the same embossing pressure was applied on the letters as the numbers.

2. All Kimble stolen cards counterfeited to date have no star. The Bank of America star has five points, but counterfeiters are embossing a six-point star that looks like a daisy flower. Some cards have been recovered with a dot in place of the star.

The only positive way to tell if the card is a Kimble stolen card is to photocopy the back with the signature panel (for the signature record), then scrap off the center with a sharp knife. If the number 03 781-7-81-682 appears under the panel, this card is a Kimble counterfeit.

Kimble counterfeit cards will not have any information recorded on the magnetic stripe on the back of the card. Valid Bank of America cards will contain the following information in the magnetic stripe: card number, name of the cardholder, expiration date, number of valid cards issued, and the reason for re-issue. Counterfeiters have digital machinery that can match the magnetic strip to the card.

Silkscreens

Here are some ways to identify counterfeit credit cards that have been created using silkscreening:

1. They are always on blank white plastic cards.

2. The pin code is very smooth and even looking.

3. The edges of the letters are jagged like sawed teeth. This can be detected with a magnifying glass.

4. You can feel the paint on the smooth plastic. This is due to criminals using the wrong type and mixture of paint. Valid cards are sprayed front and back with clear plastic, this gives the card a shiny appearance. Altered cards will contain air bubbles in the plastic, which can be detected by scrutinizing the card.

5. The edges of the card are rough because of the way they were cut. The roughness can be detected with a magnifying glass. Valid cards are always smoothly cut.

Lithographs

1. They are made on white plastic sheets.

2. Irregularities in the paint texture and color are due to using the wrong type and mixture of paint. The paint color is dotted or uneven, which can be detected by using a magnifying glass.

3. The faintness in the detail of the card is caused by the wrong amount of heat applied to the plate when burned. Normally the plate is burned with a 2,000- or 4,000-watt lamp for two to four minutes. Direct sunlight can also be used to burn the plate, but this is hit or miss.

4. Cards are sprayed with clear plastic to give it a shiny appearance. When this is done you can see air bubbles on the card by carefully scrutinizing the card.

5. When the card is embossed some of the paint will fall off the numbers and the letters. This happens because the card was not covered with clear plastic.

Signature Panels

Signature panels can be altered in two ways:

1. By covering the old panel with a false one made of glued-on paper, adhesive tape, white paint or white fingernail polish. To detect these alterations one must examine the panel closely. If the panel has been damaged or is missing this could indicate an altered card. False panels often show other signs of alteration: paper or tape panels may have edges that can be lifted off, paint or nail polish panels are easily chipped and may show brush marks or light erasures. Often the edges of altered panels are irregular.

2. A mixture of red wine vinegar and rubbing alcohol, ninety percent vinegar and ten percent, alcohol, will erase the signature without damaging the plastic.

To write consistently and accurately concerning credit card

fraud, you must have a suitable definition of terms used by

the industry and criminals in these enterprises:

Credit card A plastic card empowering the holder to buy or borrow against credit