Stolen Credit Cards For Sale Online

Is has been found that there are stolen credit card details for sale online for as little as £1 each. British newspaper The Guardian found batches of credit card details, including names, addresses, card details and other information that could be used for identity fraud. This comes after the huge data breach of British telecoms company Talk Talk when over 10,000 customer’s details were compromised and potentially stolen.

Last year alone, more than 600,000 individuals had their personal details stolen from UK companies alone, according to a report from the Financial Times. This shows a dramatic increase in data theft and the rise of identity theft in not just the UK but the entire world. From that attack alone, there is a good chance a lot of that information will end up on websites for sale, sits that criminals frequent in order to obtain high quality personal details. Unfortunately for the most part, identity fraud is difficult to detect, let alone defend in the first place.

In the discovery by The Guardian, they were offered both Visa and MasterCard details the day after the data breach on Talk Talk, and only if payment was made through Bitcoin, the anonymous and untraceable online currency. The website was registered in Russia but operated and ran in English, where the credit card details on sale were mostly from the UK, the method in which they were obtained was not disclosed. The site offered many ‘high end’ cards, including Platinum which is particularly attractive to identity thefts due to the usually very high credit limits. These particular cards were available for around $70 per card.

Bulk cards however, each with all the necessary details, were available for £100 ($150) were a little trickier to obtain, instead, buyers had to venture into the ‘dark web’. Unavailable through conventional internet browsers, these types of sites were found when using the Tor browser. This opens up a whole new level of internet where not only credit card details are for sale, but PayPal accounts and even counterfeited notes were available. The acquisition of these stolen details is unknown, but through various methods, people have been able to obtain these details. Unfortunately for the most part, the victim’s are oblivious to the theft and won’t know until it is too late.

To protect yourself from identity theft, there are steps to take. Sign up to Le VPN and you can at least make sure your internet connection is safe from anyone potentially snooping on your activity. By connecting through an encrypted connection, you will be browsing the internet anonymously. Le VPN will allow you to experience the true freedom of the internet without worrying about security.