An investigative report in Diario Libre today, Tuesday 11 February says that 80% of cyberfraud in the country is credit card related, according to data collected by the Attorney General office. Most of the fraud involves credit card cloning, transferring money and phishing. From October 2010 to December 2013, the Superintendence of Banks received 9,861 claims of fraudulent uses of funds from users. Dominican banks have issued 2.5 million credit cards. The Attorney General Specialized Unit against Hi-Tech Crimes says it has confiscated 3,000 cards in the past 10 months. There were 562 reports of credit card cloning during that period.
The report says that the fraud cost the banking system RD$341.56 million in 2011.
One of the most effective ways to reduce crime is the use of credit cards with a smart chip. Esteban Martinez-Murag of Banco Popular says that fraud has been reduced to a minimum since the introduction of the Visa Debit Card with a smart chip in 2012. He said that it was very difficult to clone the chip.
www.diariolibre.com/destacada/2014/02/11/i477561_fraudes-con-tarjetas-son-los-ciberdelitos.html