Six million stolen payment cards found on the dark web — 11500 are Irish!

Experts say this is just “a tip of the iceberg” because 63% of cards came bundled with other private information.

Even though banks and other financial institutions do a lot to protect their customers from payment card fraud, criminals still find their way into victims’ wallets. The newest research by NordVPN analyzed 6 million stolen payment cards found on the dark web. Two in three cards came bundled with at least some private information, such as an address, phone number, email address, or even Social Security number (SSN).

As many as 11,536 (0.2%) analyzed payment cards belonged to the Irish, making Ireland the 24th most affected country globally. Researchers also estimated that the average price of Irish cards on the dark web is €5.31 (global average – €6.37). Irish payment cards are prone to fraud: According to NordVPN’s card fraud risk index, on a scale from 0 to 1, Ireland’s payment card fraud risk index is 0.62.

“The cards researchers found are just the tip of the iceberg. The information sold alongside these cards makes it much more dangerous,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity advisor at NordVPN.

“In the past, experts linked payment card fraud to brute-forcing attacks — when a criminal tries to guess a payment card number and CVV to use their victim’s card. However, most of the cards we found during our research were sold alongside  the email and home addresses of their victims, which are impossible to brute force. We can therefore conclude that they were stolen using more sophisticated methods, such as phishing and malware.”

Identity theft through payment card fraud

By selling the database analyzed in the research, cybercriminals could earn more than €16.8 million in total. If purchased, these payment card details could net criminals much more than they originally paid for them.

6,000 payment cards for sale included their Irish owners’ home addresses, 4,000 included telephone numbers, 3,000 included email addresses, and around 150 cards included their owners’ date of birth.

If a data breach or hack exposes users’ card details as well as their addresses and other personal information, it can lead to identity theft. Once the attacker has obtained the victim’s name, home address, and email address, they may even abuse legal methods (such as using the GDPR’s right to access for more personal information) in furthering the identity theft scheme or committing other malicious activities.

United Kingdom — the most affected country in Europe, Ireland is 9th

The United Kingdom was affected, with 164,143 payment cards stolen, making it the third most affected country in the world and the most affected country in Europe. France was the second in Europe and the most affected country in the European Union, with almost 100 thousand payment cards stolen. Italy ranked third in the list of most affected European countries and second in the list of European Union countries.

Ireland came 9th in the list of the most affected European countries.

Malta, Australia, and New Zealand at the top of the risk index, and Ireland in the 30th place

Based on their findings, NordVPN researchers have calculated the risks posed by credit card theft and related cyberattacks to residents in 98 countries. Malta, Australia, and New Zealand came at the top of the risk index, and Ireland came in 30th place.

Russia had the lowest risk score, and China was 3rd from last. These findings seem to confirm prevailing hypotheses regarding the location of large-scale hacking operations and the purposeful targeting of Anglo-European countries.

58.1% of stolen cards issued in the US

Over half of the 6 million stolen credit card records analyzed came from the US, most likely due to its high rates of card penetration, sizable population, and strong economy. However, stolen US cards commanded a comparatively low price (€6.24 as opposed to the €6.37 global average) on dark web marketplaces — the most valued cards (at €10.5 on average) were from Denmark.

How to protect yourself from payment card fraud

“Few criminals now use brute force to steal payment card information. This means that techniques are becoming more sophisticated. However, this also means that informed users have less chance of being affected,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven. He has provided the following tips to help users feel more secure online.

• Use impenetrable passwords: Use different passwords for each account and store your passwords in an encrypted password manager, such as NordPass. Make sure your passwords consist of at least 20 letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Download your bank’s app: Use it to track your money, paying particular attention to any unusual deductions. Some apps will notify you of every transaction in real time — just make sure to look.
• Respond to data breaches: Change your username and password immediately if a company informs you that your details were involved in a data breach. If you’ve used the same one elsewhere, change it there too.
• Use anti-malware software: Anti-malware software (such as NordVPN’s Threat Protection) will ensure that you do not download malicious files to your device and will protect you from info-stealing viruses.