You may be aware of the recent unprecedented attacks by international fraudsters on Australian EFTPOS machines.
The attacks have been described by the NSW Fraud Squad Head, Colin Dyson, as "the biggest I've seen" with the criminal gang gaining $50m of the Australian publics' hard-earned cash.
Police have stated that criminals are stealing EFTPOS machines, modifying them to copy credit card details, and then replacing them in other stores. The gangs seem to be focusing on fast-food, convenience and specialist clothing stores with McDonald's among the outlets whose EFTPOS machines have been targeted.
All Australian capitals and some regional areas have been hit by the fraud, which is believed to involve gangs from India.
Unfortunately compromised machines are not easy to spot. So with more cases expected, what can you do to help?
Don’t let the gangs get away with it. Change your credit and debit card pin numbers immediately.
"There is sometimes a lag between PINs being compromised and used. If someone whose details are skimmed changes their PIN quickly, the data can be useless to the criminal."
Supt Dyson urges all EFTPOS users to regularly change their PIN, as often as once a month.
What are we doing?
We are working with card providers to upgrade all of our cards to the new chip card technology.
The microchip is a smart chip, which appears as a gold or silver square embedded on the left hand side on the front of the cards. Like the magnetic stripe on the back of current Visa cards, the embedded chip stores your account details – your account name, number and account expiry date. But unlike the magnetic stripe, the microchip is virtually impossible to copy, which provides an unrivalled level of protection against counterfeiting, card skimming and other fraudulent use.
Do you think you have been victim to an attack?
Contact us immediately and we will assist you to recoup your money.