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Taking a swipe at cyber card fraud

From Atika Shubert, CNN Correspondent

Banks and credit card companies are throwing more resources at combating fraud
Banks and credit card companies are throwing more resources at combating fraud

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Travelers and shoppers beware. While using your credit card may be easy and convenient, credit card fraud is fast becoming a chronic problem in many Asian countries.

Chief among them is Indonesia, which rates among the top five nations in the world with a high risk for credit card fraud.

This is despite the fact that less than 1 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people actually own credit cards.

The most complex scams involve a restaurant or shop employee, who with a little sleight of hand can easily swipe the information off your card's magnetic strip through a hand-held reader that is no large than a small mobile phone.

The information gleaned from the strip can be sent half way around the world to make fake credit cards. These then can be used to rack up thousands of dollars in a country you've never been to -- all within days of your purchase.

But the easier and more common method is cyber fraud.

This involves giving card information to computer hackers who then make dozens of online purchases -- all from the anonymity of an Internet café.

One hacker ran CNN through the process.

He logs on to chat rooms, asking around for numbers. It doesn't take too long before someone replies, giving him dozens of credit card numbers.

Then it's just a matter of time and patience, searching for vulnerable retail sites, such as brand new businesses with little experience in Internet security.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of card fraud is how many hackers feel that while what they are doing is wrong, it's somehow acceptable.

"Yes, it's wrong but it really only hurts other rich countries that were dumb enough to let us. Why should an Indonesian get arrested for damaging American business?" asks the hacker.

Aiding the cause is an absence of cyber crime laws in Indonesia.

But that may soon change. Campaigning against the blasé attitude to cyber fraud is Internet security analyst and expert Budi Rahardjo.

Draft bill

Cases are extremely difficult to prosecute in Indonesia, Rahardjo says, adding that only 15 percent of reported incidents are actually investigated.

To combat such fraud, Rahardjo is helping to draft a bill that would crack down on people who help facilitate cyber crime.

Under this bill, if a carder goes into a cyber café and uses someone's credit card, the cyber café could be held responsible, he says.

By putting the onus on café operators, it gets more difficult for hackers to gain anonymity.

Cleaning up cyber fraud will also help put some of the faith back into credit card purchases.

Interestingly enough, the hacker CNN spoke with regretted his carding past.

He says his legitimate business is suffering as it can no longer order supplies over the Internet as retailers try to protect themselves from Indonesia's rampant credit card fraud.


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