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Man arrested for $50 million card fraud
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin
November 1994
by criminals, reports Computer Weekly. This has prompted the organizers to hold talks with detectives in an effort to reassure them that the system is ‘uncrackable’. The
system
has had only
limited
testing
because only 7000 of the 39 000 terminals have been installed. These terminals, at sites such as Tescos and Esso garages are linked directly to core VAX 7000 computers. The organizers of the lottery, Camelot, met with fraud squad officers, of whom many were still dissatisfied with security provisions. Some officers are said to be unhappy because the data will pass directly through BT junction boxes or via satellite. Camelot insists that the terminals installed by US lottery specialist G-Tech under licence by ICL cannot be cracked. Three different encoding numbers would be implanted on lottery tickets, using encryption methods. To claim the prizes even criminals who had intercepted the signals would still have to counterfeit a winning six-digit ticket.
Man arrested for $50 million card fraud In a $50 million fraud spanning the USA, UK and Europe, an employee of MCI Communications has been charged by the US Secret Service. Computerworld reports that switch engineer Ivy James Lay reportedly collected 60 000 card numbers during a six month period and then sold them to Americans in Seattle, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Chicago, who in turn sold them to European computer users. The scam ultimately led to the use of some of the card numbers to pirate software from US-based online computer networks and bulletin boards. For years the carriers have exchanged information on fraud investigations. Just like telecommunications companies, credit-card firms are busy building increasingly accurate fraud detection systems. The next phase for these systems will be real-time capabilitiesthe ability to spot a fraudulent transaction as it happens. Sometimes companies are unknown victims because fraudulent calls are hidden in telephone bills that are not reviewed carefully.
01994
Elsevier Science Ltd
The cost of toll fraud has been traditionally borne by the carriers, but it is now being shifted to large corporations that buy their own telephone systems and set up their own networks.
Fake credit cards used in casinos In the USA, police have arrested six men accused of using fake credit cards at two Upper Peninsula casinos to steal an estimated $60 000.
Free Press reports that the suspects are also wanted for questioning in Las Vegas and California. The men are accused of using fake credit cards in cash advance machines in both casinos. The FBI and other agencies have been looking for them. The casinos’ ‘Corn-Check’ machines, similar to ATMs, issue cheques that are redeemed for cash or chips. The suspects used bogus cards with valid account numbers, apparently copied from charge receipts. The men picked up at the casino had five credit cards while a further 20 were seized from a motel room. Personnel at the casino became suspicious when the men kept cashing cheques for large amounts of money without doing much gambling.
Bank employees steal from a customer’s account In the States, two former Albany Savings Bank employees have pleaded guilty to charges that they embezzled f47 200 from a bank customer’s account by using automated teller machines and phoney ATM cards. The Daily News reports that Joseph Debrango and Robert Arket pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to embezzle bank funds. Between October 1993 and April 1994, the two used their inside knowledge of ATM machines and bank test cards to withdraw cash from the Albany Savings Bank customer. Debrango was employed by the bank in the ATM department as an operations manager and Arket was employed as a systems analyst in the computer operations department. Sentencing could bring a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250 000.
3
November 1994
by criminals, reports Computer Weekly. This has prompted the organizers to hold talks with detectives in an effort to reassure them that the system is ‘uncrackable’. The
system
has had only
limited
testing
because only 7000 of the 39 000 terminals have been installed. These terminals, at sites such as Tescos and Esso garages are linked directly to core VAX 7000 computers. The organizers of the lottery, Camelot, met with fraud squad officers, of whom many were still dissatisfied with security provisions. Some officers are said to be unhappy because the data will pass directly through BT junction boxes or via satellite. Camelot insists that the terminals installed by US lottery specialist G-Tech under licence by ICL cannot be cracked. Three different encoding numbers would be implanted on lottery tickets, using encryption methods. To claim the prizes even criminals who had intercepted the signals would still have to counterfeit a winning six-digit ticket.
Man arrested for $50 million card fraud In a $50 million fraud spanning the USA, UK and Europe, an employee of MCI Communications has been charged by the US Secret Service. Computerworld reports that switch engineer Ivy James Lay reportedly collected 60 000 card numbers during a six month period and then sold them to Americans in Seattle, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Chicago, who in turn sold them to European computer users. The scam ultimately led to the use of some of the card numbers to pirate software from US-based online computer networks and bulletin boards. For years the carriers have exchanged information on fraud investigations. Just like telecommunications companies, credit-card firms are busy building increasingly accurate fraud detection systems. The next phase for these systems will be real-time capabilitiesthe ability to spot a fraudulent transaction as it happens. Sometimes companies are unknown victims because fraudulent calls are hidden in telephone bills that are not reviewed carefully.
01994
Elsevier Science Ltd
The cost of toll fraud has been traditionally borne by the carriers, but it is now being shifted to large corporations that buy their own telephone systems and set up their own networks.
Fake credit cards used in casinos In the USA, police have arrested six men accused of using fake credit cards at two Upper Peninsula casinos to steal an estimated $60 000.
Free Press reports that the suspects are also wanted for questioning in Las Vegas and California. The men are accused of using fake credit cards in cash advance machines in both casinos. The FBI and other agencies have been looking for them. The casinos’ ‘Corn-Check’ machines, similar to ATMs, issue cheques that are redeemed for cash or chips. The suspects used bogus cards with valid account numbers, apparently copied from charge receipts. The men picked up at the casino had five credit cards while a further 20 were seized from a motel room. Personnel at the casino became suspicious when the men kept cashing cheques for large amounts of money without doing much gambling.
Bank employees steal from a customer’s account In the States, two former Albany Savings Bank employees have pleaded guilty to charges that they embezzled f47 200 from a bank customer’s account by using automated teller machines and phoney ATM cards. The Daily News reports that Joseph Debrango and Robert Arket pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to embezzle bank funds. Between October 1993 and April 1994, the two used their inside knowledge of ATM machines and bank test cards to withdraw cash from the Albany Savings Bank customer. Debrango was employed by the bank in the ATM department as an operations manager and Arket was employed as a systems analyst in the computer operations department. Sentencing could bring a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250 000.
3