Online crooks prefer famed 'Black Card'
Elite credit cards, like the famous "Black Card" by American Express, are twice as likely to be used in a fraudulent e-commerce transactions than regular credit cards, new data shows.
Elite cards like the American Express Centurion, dubbed the the Black Card for its color, are used in fraudulent online transactions 1.7% of the time, according to new data from Forter, which helps retailers protect against fraud. By contrast, gold and platinum cards come with a 1% fraud rate, while corporate cards are used for fraud 0.7% of the time, according to Forter's data, which is slated to be released on Monday.
Crooks like elite cards because of their higher credit limits, explained Noam Inbar, Forter's vice president of business development. Plus, they are less likely to be declined by the retailer, she said.
Forter's research also shows that online crooks prefer Microsoft Outlook for sending email. Indeed, Microsoft's email service is used 15 times more by fraudsters than the other email services, Forter's data shows. Hotmail is the second preferred email service and AOL is the least favored.
Inbar said cyber crooks want ease when opening up a new account. They typically shy away from two-step verification, for example, she said.
Forter is a Tel Aviv, Israel-based fraud prevention company backed by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The company is so confident in its fraud finding model that it guarantees it will cover the cost of any transaction it okays that turns out to be bogus.
Perhaps not surprising, online cyber crooks are drawn to popular name-brand items with high market value that are easy to sell, including Go Pro cameras, Rolex and Prada, Forter found. But they will also buy cigars, alcohol, and the occasional pizza, the company said.
Online fraud picks up between 2 am and 6 am when it is 10 times as high as the rate of fraud between 2 pm and 6 pm, Forter said. Forter also found that fraud rates drop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday when everyone else is shopping, but perk up on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day — by over 200% compared to the average — when most legitimate shoppers are staying away from online shopping.
