What’s A Stolen Credit Card Worth?

The team at Dell SecureWorks (the security services division of Dell computing) has posted a very interesting bit of research on the economics of cybercrime, showing that the prices for some items and services have fallen as supply rises. Classic supply and demand at work.

But one segment of ill-gotten goods has remained steady: stolen credit card details.

When fraudsters skim or hack a cache of credit cards, they’ll often sort them based on the type of card, geography, credit limit, and how complete the card records are. These factors all influence how desirable the cards are for future profit potential. Then, they’ll sell them in bulk to other cybercriminals on underground forums to clone into counterfeit cards, which can be used to buy consumer goods to fence (like jewelry, luxury goods or electronics) or withdraw cash from ATMs.

Despite the significant purchasing power your credit card has, it costs the fraudsters surprisingly little. Have a look at the following chart from SecureWorks for an idea of the relative values of each credit card type:

Credit Cards and Their Value on the Cybercrime Black Market

Note: All credit cards sold with CVV codes (the three-digit identifier next to the signature strip).

Note: Track 1 and 2 Data is information that is contained in digital format on the magnetic stripe embedded in the backside of the credit card. Some payment cards store data in chips embedded on the front side. The magnetic stripe or chip holds information such as the Primary Account Number, Expiration Date, Cardholder Name, plus other sensitive data for authentication and authorization.

[Dell SecureWorks Blog]