Friday Video: Credit Card Scammers: Street Gangs on the Dark Web
Credit card fraud has been on the rise for about a decade. In 2016 alone, losses topped $24 billion worldwide, half of which affected cardholders in the US. With a virtually unlimited amount of money to be made scamming, some tech-savvy criminals have turned ripping off credit card numbers into a full-time gig.
VICE met up with a scammer in Brooklyn for an inside look at the shady underground profession. He walked us through the process, showing us how he buys stolen accounts on the dark web, prints pilfered numbers on blank cards, and buys thousands of dollars worth of goods with stolen money. He also explained why he got into the game in the first place—and what it would take for him to get out.
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
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