
Stolen credit cards and the Black Market: How the digital underground works - turoczy
http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/vulnerability-management/how-stolen-target-credit-cards-are-used-on-the-black-market/
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skloubkov
Pretty interesting read. Didn't know about use of gift cards, pretty cleaver.

Any idea if the "mules" (from the article, the guys who get items shipped to
them) would be in legal trouble?

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indydh
I work for a company that prevents credit card fraud. My experience is that no
one really gets in legal trouble. The banks will do what they can to prevent
fraud, but they are not willing to spend money prosecuting fraudsters, let
alone the mules.

Over the last year, I have only heard of one case where our banks even started
an investigation into a fraudster, and this guy has cleared millions of
dollars. Unfortunately, this big fraudsters tend to be overseas and
extradition is not a possibility.

As the article mentioned, the mules are generally getting duped. They are the
ones with all the exposure, but they usually just got roped into a 'work at
home and make $$$' scheme or a love scam (I met someone over the internet, I
am helping them move packages for their company). Often the postal inspectors
will be the ones that notice something out of order and tell the mule they are
part of a scam. Again, the banks will work to shut down mules, but they will
not prosecute.

