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Is Your Credit Card Stolen?
New Web Database Tracks Stolen Credit Cards
By Jay Lyman
NewsFactor Network
By entering their own credit card numbers into the database, users can find out whether others are trying to check the validity of their cards.
Credit card holders can now check to see whether thieves are attempting to use their account numbers. The new service, available to all credit card holders, is available at CardCops.com.
Backers of the new service said the site is aimed at closing the gap between when a card is stolen and when the theft is reported.
"I think it's going to be a tool to help the public feel better about putting their credit card numbers on the Internet," CardCops chief executive officer Dan Clements told NewsFactor.
Overwhelming Response
While government officials at the Federal Trade Commission , U.S. Secret Service and other agencies have stressed consumer and corporate priority on identity and credit card theft, interest in the matter was reinforced when the new CardCops service was inundated by requests -- forcing the database offline temporarily.
"It was ridiculous. We certainly didn't expect it," Clements said regarding the number of hits that brought the database down.
He said the site's database received as many as 1,000 hits per minute when it launched. CardCops is moving the database -- which already contains some 100,000 credit card numbers collected over the past two months -- to a faster server that can better handle the load.
Invalid Validation
Clements stressed that CardCops is operating within the law and does not collect the expiration dates that are required for card use.
He also said the database consists only of credit card numbers that are being checked for validity from chat rooms and other Internet sources.
"We are grabbing just a credit card that has been validated -- where somebody runs a script to see if [the credit card] is open," Clements said, calling the practice a common one.
"All we're saying [in the database] is that somebody on the public Internet has validated a card."
Cutting Lag Time
Clements, whose organization has successfully set up stings to obtain information on fraudulent card attempts in the past, said that between 40 and 50 e-commerce hacks have been reported to the company in the past year-and-a-half.
By entering their own credit card numbers into the database, users can find out whether others are trying to check the validity of their cards. Clements said his organization normally reports questionable credit card numbers to the Secret Service and notifies the credit card company.
"But not much is done after that," he said. "Our goal is to try and cut down the lag time for a card that has been compromised or stolen."
War on Fraud
Clements told NewsFactor that the CardCops site, was launched as a response to the growing concerns surrounding credit card fraud.
"We felt that somebody was going to do it anyway," he said. "We wanted to lead the charge in the war on credit card fraud."
Secret Service special agent Jim Mackin told NewsFactor that the agency "would applaud anyone's effort to assist and prevent crime, whether on the Internet or any other source."
However, Mackin said that the Secret Service is presently reluctant to endorse consumer use of the site.
Instead, he said that those who fear they might be the subject of card fraud should contact the issuing company
By Jay Lyman
NewsFactor Network
By entering their own credit card numbers into the database, users can find out whether others are trying to check the validity of their cards.
Credit card holders can now check to see whether thieves are attempting to use their account numbers. The new service, available to all credit card holders, is available at CardCops.com.
Backers of the new service said the site is aimed at closing the gap between when a card is stolen and when the theft is reported.
"I think it's going to be a tool to help the public feel better about putting their credit card numbers on the Internet," CardCops chief executive officer Dan Clements told NewsFactor.
Overwhelming Response
While government officials at the Federal Trade Commission , U.S. Secret Service and other agencies have stressed consumer and corporate priority on identity and credit card theft, interest in the matter was reinforced when the new CardCops service was inundated by requests -- forcing the database offline temporarily.
"It was ridiculous. We certainly didn't expect it," Clements said regarding the number of hits that brought the database down.
He said the site's database received as many as 1,000 hits per minute when it launched. CardCops is moving the database -- which already contains some 100,000 credit card numbers collected over the past two months -- to a faster server that can better handle the load.
Invalid Validation
Clements stressed that CardCops is operating within the law and does not collect the expiration dates that are required for card use.
He also said the database consists only of credit card numbers that are being checked for validity from chat rooms and other Internet sources.
"We are grabbing just a credit card that has been validated -- where somebody runs a script to see if [the credit card] is open," Clements said, calling the practice a common one.
"All we're saying [in the database] is that somebody on the public Internet has validated a card."
Cutting Lag Time
Clements, whose organization has successfully set up stings to obtain information on fraudulent card attempts in the past, said that between 40 and 50 e-commerce hacks have been reported to the company in the past year-and-a-half.
By entering their own credit card numbers into the database, users can find out whether others are trying to check the validity of their cards. Clements said his organization normally reports questionable credit card numbers to the Secret Service and notifies the credit card company.
"But not much is done after that," he said. "Our goal is to try and cut down the lag time for a card that has been compromised or stolen."
War on Fraud
Clements told NewsFactor that the CardCops site, was launched as a response to the growing concerns surrounding credit card fraud.
"We felt that somebody was going to do it anyway," he said. "We wanted to lead the charge in the war on credit card fraud."
Secret Service special agent Jim Mackin told NewsFactor that the agency "would applaud anyone's effort to assist and prevent crime, whether on the Internet or any other source."
However, Mackin said that the Secret Service is presently reluctant to endorse consumer use of the site.
Instead, he said that those who fear they might be the subject of card fraud should contact the issuing company
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