HUNDREDS of bank customers have had their credit cards cancelled following the latest international scam to hit the financial services sector.
Personal banking details of hundreds of customers were compromised after thieves hacked into the online database of one of the country’s leading retailers.
The scam was discovered on Wednesday night after the fraudsters attempted to use the credit card details to test if the cards were valid.
This so-called testing came to light when transactions for up to €1 appeared for items purchased on US website, Kosher.com. This allows fraudsters to determine if cards are still in use before using them for larger purchases.
All the major banks were working non-stop yesterday to contact customers and cancel all cards affected and re-issue new ones.
It is likely hackers got credit card details by getting into the retailer’s website or obtaining details from an employee, according to the Irish Payment Service Organisation (IPSO).
IPSO’s head of card services Una Dillon confirmed a large number of Irish cards were compromised.
“Customers are not liable and will know about this scam as they will have been contacted by their bank,” said Ms Dillon.
She confirmed that the scam is likely to have originated with an Irish internet-based retailer but said it was too soon to tell which company is involved.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland confirmed that some of its customers were affected by this “testing”.
“Any customer affected would have been contacted by us and then we will cancel the card and re-issue the customer with a new card.”
AIB refused to comment. Attempts to contact Kosher.com yesterday proved unsuccessful.
The news of this latest scam comes as it was confirmed Irish shoppers were among the victims of a huge fraud case in which a group allegedly hacked into shop and bank computers and installed software to access personal data such as card numbers and passwords.
The identity thefts began in 2003, but it wasn’t until February last year that the largest incident came to light when TJX, the owner of discount designer store TK Maxx, reported a data breach of 45.7 million credit and debit cards from customers in Britain, the US, Canada and Ireland going back to 2005.
IPSO said the internet scam known as phishing is on the increase in Ireland and credit card holders have been warned to be wary of unfamiliar emails.
Phishing is a process where attackers use emails to lead consumers to counterfeit websites designed to ruse recipients into divulging financial data.
By Niamh Hennessy
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