CalyxOne

According to a recent report a scam has been uncovered that involves credit card fraudsters cloning the credit cards of American cardholders and then using them to make expensive purchases in the UK. These fraudsters are thought to be able to make around £8000 a day using this sort of scam, and officials state that they are taking advantage of the slow uptake of chip and pin technology in the United States.

A recent BBC investigation revealed that one gang planning this sort of scam had managed to access the card details of over two thousand Americans, and were planning to clone the cards and then use them for huge spending sprees in the UK. The details are thought to have been obtained from other gangs based in the US.

Once the credit cards have been cloned the fraudsters pass them onto ‘mules’ who use them to visit large supermarket chains in the UK to make purchases and to withdraw cash. The mules then take a cut of the profit, as does the fraudster and the gang through which the card details were obtained.

It is thought that the fraudsters are targeting supermarkets that have had self service checkouts fitted, and amongst the major supermarket chains that have been mentioned by the fraudsters are Tesco and Asda, both of which have these self service tills in some of their stores. This would reduce the chances of a member of staff identifying the card as a fake, and would make it easier for the fraudsters to get away without any problems.