We live in a world surrounded by cybercriminals whose only intention is to steal personal information and money. Many users think that they will never be in the crosshairs of these attackers. Yet thousands of credit cards are stolen and sold on the Dark Web every day. For example, in the latest NordVPN report you can see how in Spain the total number is 60,173 stolen cards.
NordVPN researchers have analyzed a total of six million credit cards in eight markets on the Dark Web. Hence, these experts have learned that the number of stolen cards in Spain amounts to more than 60,000, including debit, credit and other alternatives. Worst of all, the problem does not end there, but thanks to these robberies, the personal data of the victims have been discovered.
how they steal cards
Although it has been possible to analyze a data set of six million credit cards from different markets in the Dark WebIt’s just the tip of the iceberg. This is how the researchers at NordVPN have rated it. More than anything, because only a small fraction of all the stolen payment information that is available on the dark web is represented.
Regarding the data collected from Spain, we can see how they add up more than 60,000 credit card thefts. And the methods used for this are two in particular. This is how they get other types of personal data, once they get their hands on the cards. In any case, these are the two methods:
- malware theft: the number rises to 23,957 cards.
- Brute force robbery: the number of cards is 36,216.
In this way they not only get the CVV number (the code that comes on the card for purchase verification) and expiration dates. Cybercriminals also get other types of victim data such as: addresses (20,693), Social Security numbers (188), date of birth (208) and telephone numbers (11,829). So the most leaked personal information thanks to getting credit cards are the addresses and phone numbers of the people affected.
The eleventh most affected country in the world
All this data that they have collected from NordVPN makes Spain the eleventh most affected country in the world and the room of europe. In addition, it must be taken into account that the researchers also calculated that the average price of Spanish cards on the dark web is 6.12 euros (world average: 6.37 euros).
They also confirm that Spanish credit cards are fraud prone. Another piece of information that can be found in this report is the card fraud risk index from NordVPN. We are dealing with a scale from 0 to 1, therefore, the payment card fraud risk index in Spain is 0.47.
He The most affected in Europe is the United Kingdom and globally, the United States ranks with the highest number of stolen credit cards. Instead, at the top of the risk index are Malta, Australia and New Zealand.