The number of banking card misuse operations in Ukraine is on the rise. The Ukrainian Inter-Banking Association of Payment System Members says the instances of fraud in this sector rose threefold in 2012 compared to 2011.
Cyber fraud is divided into two types that involve: using pay cards and/or their data (e.g., skimming), and using online banking (in other words, in the customer-bank system).
“Last year, 80 readout devices (skimmers) were found in ATMs against 45 in 2011 – a threefold increase. Compare this with Russia, where 2,071 and 397 readout devices were found in 2012 and 2011, respectively, which means a 422-percent growth. In Europe, there is one skimmer per 500 ATMs, in Ukraine 1.5 devices per 10,000 ATMs,” says Olesia Danylchenko, chief of the Inter-Banking Forum for Safe Pay Card Transactions, commenting on one of the favorite ways of stealing money from credit cards. At the same time, she says, the market shows a decline of fraud in shopping and service facilities and, on the contrary, a growing number of online crimes. Danylchenko claims the number of Internet crimes has gone up threefold. “As for the causes of this growth, 70 to 80 percent of data leakage occurs via the customers’ antivirus software. Banks are doing explanatory work now: the card is a safe tool, but using software in the computer may involve risks,” she says.
