Payment card data can be stolen online: explained how not to be deceived and lose money | Business

How can we protect ourselves from this today, says Linas Sadeckas, head of the Fraud Risk Management Department at Luminor Bank.

Extortion of data when shopping online

Data skimming is the theft of payment card information from online store customers. Transaction data is stolen during registration and first payment in real time, without customers noticing anything unusual.

Personal archive photo/Linas Sadeckas

“First, fraudsters gain access to an online store or a third-party server. This can happen due to system vulnerabilities or configuration errors. Thieves then insert malware into the payment process like a bug that secretly collects all of the customer’s information. The data is collected immediately at the time of payment or later, so that the theft is not detected,” says L. Sadeckas.

Affected customers are usually unaware that their card details have been compromised. According to the expert, from their point of view, the order has been placed and the item will be received. Therefore, there is no possibility of suspecting that something went wrong, and the losses become apparent much later.

Misappropriation of data through companies

Cybercriminals can also steal your card details by finding weak spots in email security systems. stores where you save your payment card details for convenience. In this case, they target a repository of payment information already saved.

According to the expert, such gaps in systems can occur due to outdated software, improper configuration or inadequate security protocols. Knowing this, reliable e-mail stores invest a lot of resources to ensure that there are no gaps, but in very rare cases there may still be gaps.

“Having identified a vulnerability in systems, fraudsters use various methods to penetrate them. For example, they can install viruses or ransomware in order to compromise the system and gain unauthorized access to data. After stealing payment card information, criminals usually try to profit from it by selling it to others on the black market or use the money themselves,” says L. Sadeckas.

Fraudulent messages

Fraudsters can also steal your identity through fraudulent messages (English – “phishing“). Fraudsters usually pretend to be a well-known company or a trusted institution, such as a bank or postal service company, and try to force you to provide confidential information.

“You may receive an unexpected email or SMS message, a message on social media. It usually indicates a certain event that requires urgent action and clicking on the link attached to the message. Examples of such events are allegedly stuck parcels from the post office or other parcel service, fake couriers, messages allegedly received from the police about non-existent fines, etc., says the expert.

According to L.Sadeck, such messages may indicate that a problem has been found with your payment information, that you may need to confirm certain personal data, or that unusual activity has been observed in your account.

However, this is just a trick to divert a person’s attention and extract confidential data – passwords, payment card numbers and access your bank account with the available information, says the expert.

How to protect yourself?

To protect yourself from credit card theft, don’t unnecessarily share card information on websites with a dubious reputation – only use sites you know well.

It is also advisable to have a separate payment card for online payments and to monitor account statements regularly. Activate additional security features, such as two-factor authentication, for logins to sensitive accounts.

“If you have become a victim of payment card data theft, immediately contact your bank and report it to the Lithuanian police, this way you will increase the probability of preventing illegal withdrawal of funds and data expropriation,” says L. Sadeckas.

According to the expert, the chances of recovering funds initiated by a payment card are small, but urgent actions of the victim in the event of card data theft can help increase this probability.