Lost more than 60 billion VND because of fake ATM cards

The continuous theft of bank card accounts in recent times has made many customers worry about the safety of their bank card accounts.

According to banking information technology experts, banks have been, are and will be forced to accept the risk of counterfeit ATM cards, even after switching technology from magnetic cards to chip cards, despite the fact that security levels have been tightened after many thefts in the past.

According to information from a member of the Vietnam Bank Card Association, in 2011, the amount of money that criminals stole from bank cards in Vietnam was about 3 million USD (about 62.5 billion VND).

Through analysis by experts, it is shown that the common method of criminals counterfeiting ATM cards is to use fake websites or impersonating bank employees to send emails asking cardholders to provide information, or attach magnetic strip readers to ATMs to get user information, then convert them to blank cards and then withdraw money from accounts...

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This also explains why Vietnam is a country with many cases of property theft through cards because in our country many banks still use magnetic cards, a type of card that does not ensure the security of cardholder data information, and can easily be copied and stolen.

To solve the problem of property theft through fake ATM cards, the most optimal solution currently considered is to convert all magnetic cards to chip cards.

However, according to Mr. Anwar McEnter, Sales Manager for Southeast Asia, RAPID 7 Company: Chip cards may make it more difficult to counterfeit cards, but they are not a method that can "eliminate" counterfeit cards. Criminals can still counterfeit this type of card.

Sharing about the risk of fake ATM cards in Vietnam, Mr. Dang Manh Pho, Director of the Information Technology Center, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), affirmed that fake ATM cards are difficult to avoid and can only be minimized but not completely eliminated.

Banks around the world have to accept the existence of a certain percentage of counterfeit cards. For example, in the US, the rate of counterfeit cards is determined at 5% of the total number of cards issued. And banks always have to set aside a certain amount of money as a separate fund to compensate for the loss due to the risk of counterfeit cards.

According to Datviet-M