What Do Scammers Do with Stolen Payment Cards?

In a large-scale data breach, hackers may be after a variety of things. It might be sensitive data like personal identifiable information, email addresses and passwords or the answers to common security questions. It can also be slightly less sensitive but still usable information like payment card credentials and home addresses. But what do hackers actually do with stolen payment cards?

Sometimes, they use that data themselves, and in other cases, they will sell it or hold it for ransom from the company it was stolen from. Payment card data can have a narrow window of opportunity for use since financial institutions may cancel those account numbers once they discover the breach. There’s another way that credit cards have been used following a data breach, one that steals additional benefits from the victim.

The theft of airline miles or bonus points tied to the victims’ credit cards may go unnoticed because most consumers don’t think to monitor their extra perks; once the hackers have stolen the account credentials, they can use or sell the additional perks on those accounts. One of the first steps to protecting your perks accounts is to secure it with a strong password, one that you don’t use on other accounts and that you change frequently. By protecting this account and others, you’ll help prevent a breach of your accounts as well as stop a thief who bought old information on the dark web from a database of previously hacked information. Another key step is to take some time to monitor these accounts from time to time.

Thieves get away with stolen payment cards because, too often, we happily store up those miles or bonus points for a large trip or a major purchase. Monitoring your points from time to time can help you not only keep track of how far you have to go to reach your perks goal, but also lets you stay on top of any problems that arise. If you do find out that someone has tampered with your perks account, contact your credit card issuer immediately and change your password on this or any account that uses those same login credentials. This could actually be the first sign that someone has accessed your credit card account, so it’s a good idea to order a copy of your credit report, too.

Contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530.