Thieves are using a variety of ways to steal someone’s identity, but one way may surprise you.
"Often you’ll be here in Honolulu and your card is being used somewhere in the world not necessarily in the mainland, in the world," says Lt. John McCarthy.
McCarthy is head of financial crime at the Honolulu Police Department and he knows all about the various ways thieves get consumer’s information.
"The crooks have developed ways to intercept and compromise the card information and duplicate those cards and use them elsewhere," he says.
McCarthy says some businesses may have weak debit card security software, so when they swipe your card, it becomes vulnerable, allowing thieves to get your information.
"It’s organizations of bad guys or sometimes individuals that exploit weaknesses in the system it’s very opportunistic," he says.
And that’s exactly what happened to me.
I report weekly on consumer issues, so when my debit card got hacked I was shocked.
I used my debit card at a business using weak software and my information was taken.
The bank noticed that I used my card in Hawaii and then three hours later in New York and knew that couldn’t be possible, so they called me.
"Unfortunately it’s like anything else if the crooks are always seem to one step ahead in the situation so they’re always creating new ways in trying to compromise a point of sales system," said Guy Fujitani of the Hawaii Bankers Association.
Three separate transactions were made with my card totaling more than $600.
Lt. McCarthy believes the software at the business I used my debit card at was weak, which allowed thieves to duplicate my card information and use it without my card ever leaving my wallet.
"Businesses will correct that weakness these guys will move onto another type of fraud or scam and later on they’ll come to it so it’s like a wave," he says.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
