Mastercard announced today that it has joined forces with a leading online fraud detection company to help combat illegal scams on the internet, including "phishing".
The credit card company has forged an alliance with the privately-owned US firm, NameProtect, and will use its technology to target cyber scams.
Mastercard is hoping that the new measure will help it to tackle “phishing”, where fraudsters obtain bank account and credit card details by breaking into secure networks or by sending bogus emails. Other new forms of fraud, such as identity theft and the selling of credit card details to the highest bidder will also be countered.
"We are confronting identity theft head-on by taking the fight directly to where credit card scams breed and spread," said Sergio Piñòn, the senior vice president of MasterCard Global Security & Risk Services.
"By identifying illegal card number-swapping rings and working to close down online 'credit card black markets', as well as sites that are established solely to steal personal information, we can squash illegal activity before people's accounts are compromised," he added.
Mastercard's new technology works by continuously monitoring domain names, web pages, online discussion forums and spam e-mails to identify online fraud the moment each attack is launched. They can then notify the authorities who could close the scams down before they are up and running.
The new partnership comes as identity theft and other forms of credit card fraud are on the rise. Identity theft in the UK cost the financial industry £29.7 million last year, an increase of 17 per cent on 2002, according to the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs). Identity theft currently accounts for eight per cent of overall credit card fraud.
Phishing attacks have also increased significantly. Account takeover fraud, which is where a fraudster takes over another person's account, cost British industry £14.7 million last year.
"The MasterCard initiative is compelling in its scope and reach," said Mark McLane, CEO of NameProtect. "The financial services industry and their customers are the subject of growing and increasingly sophisticated attacks online. This partnership creates a platform to attack the source of Internet-based fraud.”
Although the incidences of identity theft continue to rise, Mastercard says there are some simple steps that its customers can take to help reduce the risk of becoming yet another victim of fraud.
Customers should avoid using obvious names as passwords, such as your mother’s maiden name. Instead, use a name that thieves will have more difficulty in guessing or accessing, such as a friend’s nickname or a favourite author.
Customers should also avoid using the same password for different accounts, shred documents before throwing them away, and regularly check their credit ratings with one of the main credit reference agencies, such as Experian or Equifax.
