They find a database on the dark web with information on Argentine credit cards: the one that was leaked

One of the most widespread types of robbery -because it is simple, silent and considered low-risk- is the one involving the Credit cards in its digital format. A recent survey found that in the dark web a base is circulating with over 6 million stolen plastics, of which, 17 thousand belong to Argentines.

Moreover, two out of three cards (62%) have been packaged with at least some form of private information, such as an address, phone number, email address, or even a social security number, according to NordVPN, a cybersecurity company.

An important part included information that, in the cybercriminal arena, is equivalent to cash: the verification number (or CVV) and the expiration date of the cards.

“However, this research that has now come to light is just the tip of the iceberg. The information sold alongside these cards makes them much more dangerous,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven, cybersecurity consultant at NordVPN.

The exact total is 16,792 Argentine cards, making it the 17th most affected country in the world. Researchers have estimated that the average price of these cards on the dark web is 544 pesosthree times lower than the world average, which reaches 1,560 pesos.

For this alone, in an exponentially growing market, Argentina has a low coefficient of attack (just 0.3%) based on NordVPN’s Card Fraud Risk Index.

Upon further analysis, it was revealed that 3,000 of those cards they included the address of their Argentine owners, 2,000 had the telephone number, 1,500 the e-mail addresses, and about 70 the date of birth of their owners.

“Because most of the cards found during the investigation were sold together with their victims’ email addresses and home addresses, which is impossible to achieve with brute force techniques. Therefore, we can conclude that they were stolen using more sophisticated methods, such as phishing and malware,” Warmenhoven says.

The problem behind this global breach, which exposes data with such precision, as well as your addresses and other personal information, can lead to identity theft.

Once the attacker gets the victim’s name, ID and email address, he can even abuse legal methods to get more personal information and borrow money that was never requested and borrow money in his name.

Nearly 3 million (58.1%) of the stolen credit cards analyzed were from the United States. However, it ranks fifth in the risk index ranking, after Malta, Australia, New Zealand and Slovenia. Argentina finished in 25th place.

While Russia had the lowest risk score and China ranked third. These results appear to confirm prevailing assumptions about the location of large-scale hacking operations and the intentional selection of Anglo-European countries as targets.

Credit cards: how to avoid data theft

While the information often comes from e-commerce sites that have been compromised by attackers, an issue that escapes anyone interested, NordVPN’s specialists offer tips for avoiding a greater evil.

• impenetrable passwords: Have a different one for each account and save it in an encrypted password manager. It is indicated that they have less than 20 letters, numbers and symbols.

• banks apps: Constantly keep track of your balance, paying close attention to any unusual deductions. Some applications notify each transaction in real time.

• To act quickly: Change your username and password if a company reports that the data has been implicated in a breach. Using the same credentials on another site is not a good habit.
• Protection: Anti-malware software ensures you don’t download malicious files to your devices and helps protect you from information-stealing viruses.