[2016-07-20] HT: Financial fraud: Punjab cops’ brush with Darknet, Bitcoins

[polynesia]

Financial fraud: Punjab cops’ brush with Darknet, Bitcoins

http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/financial-fraud-punjab-cops-brush-with-darknet-bitcoins/story-w4YDmUJFDgkV12scPzWWxO.html

The Punjab Police are investigating their first case of financial fraud committed using the unregulated virtual currency Bitcoin to pay for information on the Darknet. A gang of four fraudsters -- two operating in Punjab and two in the US -- managed to remit Rs 1.2-crore worth of US Dollars to India, using credit card information bought on the ‘anonymous network’.

The proceeds of the crime were shared by the Indian fraudsters with their accomplices abroad using Bitcoin, a digital currency used as the preferred mode of payment on the Darknet.

[philiveyjr]

Kind of sad to see this. They should be focusing more on the drug trades happening in the Punjab area which are happening without bitcoin. The situation is getting worse and worse by the day and should be the priority instead of the small portion of trades which happen through bitcoin.

[masakali]

Kind of sad to see this. They should be focusing more on the drug trades happening in the Punjab area which are happening without bitcoin. The situation is getting worse and worse by the day and should be the priority instead of the small portion of trades which happen through bitcoin.

It may be a serious case in the USA which is why the Indian police are under pressure to take some action.

As much as I know, financial crimes in the USA are treated as much more severely and on priority than in India.

Fraudulent credit card transaction in India - you file a FIR and forget about it, if you are very very lucky you may get your money back in 1-2 years. Most of the times it is a loss.

Fraudulent credit card transaction in USA - the banks have to return the money if the customer can prove he did not use the card for the transaction. High level police investigations are conducted by American govt and even if the culprit is in Europe or Asia they try to extradite him as soon as possible. There are thousands of such cases each year where fraudsters from all over the world are thrown into USA jails for messing with American money (USD).

[philiveyjr]

Kind of sad to see this. They should be focusing more on the drug trades happening in the Punjab area which are happening without bitcoin. The situation is getting worse and worse by the day and should be the priority instead of the small portion of trades which happen through bitcoin.

It may be a serious case in the USA which is why the Indian police are under pressure to take some action.

As much as I know, financial crimes in the USA are treated as much more severely and on priority than in India.

Fraudulent credit card transaction in India - you file a FIR and forget about it, if you are very very lucky you may get your money back in 1-2 years. Most of the times it is a loss.

Fraudulent credit card transaction in USA - the banks have to return the money if the customer can prove he did not use the card for the transaction. High level police investigations are conducted by American govt and even if the culprit is in Europe or Asia they try to extradite him as soon as possible. There are thousands of such cases each year where fraudsters from all over the world are thrown into USA jails for messing with American money (USD).

Even in the US they are not able to track down bitcoin transactions or bitcoin related drug transactions so efficiently. Its only the marketplaces like Silkroad that they track down.

Considering this, I don't think Indian police has much chance of being able to track down those shipments which have been paid by bitcoins. But they certainly could address the Punjab problem and should prioritize that.

[masakali]

I think this article says some credit card remittance fraud for 1.2 crores using stolen information from American Punjabis?  Sounds to me like money coming from stolen cards or hacked US bank accounts into Indian bank accounts, through Western Union or something.

Americans hate this type of fraud and every single bank out there in the USA has multiple ways to trace this fiat currency from stolen credit cards. And it is a shameless thing to do, stealing unsuspecting people's credit cards and using it to fund illegal western union or bitcoin purchases.

About the Punjab thing, I doubt they bother since they surely earn a big cut out of the business by allowing the trade to go on unhinged..

[polynesia]

I think this article says some credit card remittance fraud for 1.2 crores using stolen information from American Punjabis?  Sounds to me like money coming from stolen cards or hacked US bank accounts into Indian bank accounts, through Western Union or something.

Americans hate this type of fraud and every single bank out there in the USA has multiple ways to trace this fiat currency from stolen credit cards. And it is a shameless thing to do, stealing unsuspecting people's credit cards and using it to fund illegal western union or bitcoin purchases.

About the Punjab thing, I doubt they bother since they surely earn a big cut out of the business by allowing the trade to go on unhinged..

The problem is that credit cards use technology developed in the 70s or 80s. 
I don't think the US has implemented chip-based credit cards fully.

[philiveyjr]

I think this article says some credit card remittance fraud for 1.2 crores using stolen information from American Punjabis?  Sounds to me like money coming from stolen cards or hacked US bank accounts into Indian bank accounts, through Western Union or something.

Americans hate this type of fraud and every single bank out there in the USA has multiple ways to trace this fiat currency from stolen credit cards. And it is a shameless thing to do, stealing unsuspecting people's credit cards and using it to fund illegal western union or bitcoin purchases.

About the Punjab thing, I doubt they bother since they surely earn a big cut out of the business by allowing the trade to go on unhinged..

The problem is that credit cards use technology developed in the 70s or 80s. 
I don't think the US has implemented chip-based credit cards fully.

Not the biggest problem. Credit cards are mostly used for frauds online, and don't require a chip, but just the number. Even in India, people are able to use credit cards abroad(online) without even requiring an OTP.

[masakali]

There are chip based credit cards in the USA; though banks like Ally Bank still offer non-chip based cards.
Most Americans prefer credit cards over bank accounts for the ease of payments, non-OTP non-PIN cards (signature based cards) are still in existence for this reason

Still no reason for thieves to steal credit card details and use it to funnel illegal activities.