Secret Service Says New Multi Card Cards Being Abused By Criminals
By: Jim Stickley and Tina Davis
February 19, 2019
Have you ever wanted to have a way to put all of your credit cards into one spot so you don’t have to carry them all around all the time? Yes, there are apps like Apple Pay where you can avoid carrying around your cards if you enter the numbers into the app, but there is a risk at having those stored in that way. Well, if you haven’t heard, there is a card called the Fuze Card that lest you store several numbers on it and switch between them using only one single card. Wow! Yes, it’s unbelievable and it’s true. And while can certainly be beneficial to the average Joe and Jane, the U.S. Secret Service says criminals have also picked up on this nifty item and are using it to hide the fact that they are carrying around several different stolen cards.
You see, when one is shuffling through several cards while checking out at a store, it might raise some suspicion with the store employees. This is especially true if the first and/or second of the cards are declined. By using the Fuze Card, they can look less suspicious.
These cards can hold up to 30 credit cards. There is no card number, expiration or other information printed on the card. The user simply chooses which card to use for payment by pressing the little buttons on the card. Then, using the magnetic strip or chip (depending on which version of the card the user has), they swipe and the charge goes on the designated card. It’s genius, right!
Well, criminals do indeed think so. Apparently, fraud rings will purchase thousands of stolen payment card numbers and place them into these Fuze Cards. Then they will make purchases or even withdraw funds from ATMs, if they have debit card numbers too.
Now that you know that these cards are being used this way, you can understand how important it is to guard your payment card details. Yes, once you provide it to purchase something, whether online or at a point of sale terminal, you lose control of it. But you can prevent it from being used by simply being aware of your charges. Check them often and if anything looks out of place, contact your card issuer immediately and get it resolved. If you get a notification from any retailer that your card may have been compromised, cancel it.
It’s easy to get complacent about stolen payment card numbers these days. There are safeguards in place to protect consumers, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a cost involved with fraud. Though you will likely get reimbursed for most or all of the fraudulent charges, it still costs your financial institution to resolve it. Fraud costs are also built in to pricing at retailers and if their costs continue to rise, so will yours. Nothing comes for free. If everyone works together to fight fraud, it will be less costly for all of us in the end.