Old-School Credit Card Scams Are Far From Dead
Mailed fake credit cards and magnetic-stripe skimmers, including SNAP EBT fraud, still steal victims' money.
WIRED reports that physical credit-card fraud remains costly despite newer digital scams. Waves of mailed fake replacement cards in Portugal, France, and Germany use QR codes or URLs that lead to fake banking sites. The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama indicted two Romanian nationals over alleged skimming of SNAP EBT magnetic-stripe cards. Prosecutors said US skimmer losses exceed $1 billion a year, while Mastercard plans to stop issuing stripe cards in 2029.
- European mail scams send fake cards and QR codes to phishing sites.
- Two Romanians were indicted in Alabama over alleged SNAP EBT skimming.
- Prosecutors say US skimmer fraud losses exceed $1 billion a year.
- Mastercard says it will stop issuing magnetic-stripe cards in 2029.
- Vendors
- Mastercard
- Products
- EBT cards
From the original article
4 min read at wired.com
In an era of increasingly sophisticated AI-fueled scams, a retro threat may be lurking in your mailbox.
By Lily Hay Newman, Matt Burgess · wired.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.