Credit Card Fraud, and the People Who do It!

All kinds of people commit credit card fraud, it isn't specific to one group or race of people. All cultures have their good and bad apples, no one culture is pure and saintly, we are all just human. The bad people, which society determines, can ruin lives of law abiding citizens in more ways than one, and the Internet, search engines in particular are making it easier for these criminals.

How are these criminals obtaining your information? Everyone one has heard of skimmers, small hand held devices used to swipe credit card information. Usually fast food employees and waiters use these devices to obtain credit card information. Another method, is criminals going to gas stations in the dead of night, removing the credit card machine on a gas pump and replacing it with one of their own. This machine they have replaced it with works just like a hand held skimmer, once the credit card is swiped into a pump all the information is stored inside. The only difference from a hand held skimmer is, no one can check your identification, or see the security code on the back of a card. A lot of gas stations and stores require that a person enter their zip code when making a purchase, but the upside for criminals is these machines can collect hundreds of card numbers on any given day. They then make replicas of these credit cards with the criminals name stamped on the front of the card there by making purchases at almost any store.

If a criminal really wants someones zip code, all they have to do is search for a persons name online, and narrow it down to the city or town where the credit card information was obtained. If anyone has a facebook or twitter account, putting a name and last name is usually enough for google to pop up all kinds of information on a person. Some sites will give away peoples information for a small fee. So how do you protect yourself? Best way is not to have any credit cards, cash should always be king, but in today's fast moving world not having a debit or credit card for those everyday emergencies is nearly impossible. So the next best thing would be to avoid using credit cards at small shops with little to no foot traffic. Also avoid paying with a credit card at fast food restaurants, especially when going drive-thru.

But all this information I've said so far can be found in hundreds of articles online, what I wanna know is, who is actually using these stolen credit cards? Who would cause misery to unknown people, people they have never met or seen in their lives, people who are just a name or a number in digital writing. My research in this matter, because a close friend was a victim of a credit card fraud, has led me to narrow my search to one group of working class America. The one job or group in America responsible for everyday trade and commerce, the one group, which if not for them, no one would get fresh fruits, vegetables, or any kinds of foods or be able to buy anything from any store. If not for these hard working Americans, you wouldn't be able to get your furniture or order anything online.

Who are these hard working middle class folks?

Truck drivers! Yes truck drivers, the ones delivering all the goods from LA to NY and back. The people responsible for delivering the timber and the lumber, the back bone of the economy, the truckers! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing all truck drivers, most are decent hard working people, but like I said before every group has bad apples, and it just so happens stolen credit card use in this profession is rampant.

The major corporate truckers usually have a company card to fill up gas with, the truck they drive is usually owned by the company, so that excludes big corporate employees. The truckers, usually, responsible for credit card fraud are the private truck owners. Folks who just don't give a damn, because they are just trying to make a thousand dollars more by using your credit card information. Why? Well, a truck heading across country usually requires a lot of gas, going back and forth for thousands of miles can cost thousand of dollars on those big engines. Most of the private truckers aren't covered for gas expense, and with gasoline prices so high, a trucker might feel that he has no choice, but to use a stolen credit card.

The way it works is, truckers will go to credit card thieves, those with stolen credit card information, or vendors, and ask them for a stolen credit cards. The vendor will then proceed to make a credit card with stolen information stored inside, sometimes they will ask for a credit card that resembles a gas card, so as to not look so suspicious. These stolen cards can cost anywhere from $100 to $200, one card can get as much as a $1000 dollars worth of gas. So a trucker driving cross country might make $4000 dollars on a load, and if the gas were to cost $1000, by using a stolen credit card they will end up saving as much as $900.

This, trucker credit card hijack, happened to a close friend of mine, he used his credit card at a small liquor store, the place was half empty but he wanted a coke and chips and used his credit card to make the purchase, little did he know the guy behind the counter was using a skimmer under the counter, and that soda and chips ended up costing him over $800! In 4 days time a truck driver had filled up gas in Northern California, Arizona, and Texas, before my friend caught on to what was going on and put a stop to the card. He was lucky, on that occasion, because the bank returned the money back to him, but when it happened to him a second time, this time over $900 in parts of Indiana and Minnesota, the bank did not buy his story and after an investigation determined that my friend was responsible for the transactions.

These kinds of tragic tales happen everyday, so its best to take precaution, use cash if you can. Avoid small shops with little to no business, and always, on a daily bases, check your credit card activities online.

These are just some of the ways that credit card thieves can come after you, be responsible, take precaution, and the next time you see that trucker on the freeway smiling, know that his smiling for a reason!