"Stolen Card Volumes Plummet 94% Globally"
According to security researchers at Cybersixgill, the volume of compromised credit cards offered for sale on cybercrime markets has dropped sharply over the past few years, although UK figures rose. The security firm collects 10 million "intelligence items" daily from the deep, dark, and clear web to better understand the cybercrime economy. During the study, the researchers found that there was a 94% drop in compromised cards offered for sale on underground markets between 2019 and 2022, from over 140 million four years ago to just nine million last year. Over that time, the market has declined sharply, with the number of cards available to fraudsters falling 28% from 2019 to 2020 and then by 60% a year later. There was a final 78% drop in volume between 2021 and 2022. The researchers noted that it's not only the supply of cards that has been affected but also the platforms dedicated to selling them. Since 2019, the deep and dark web marketplaces catering to the transaction of stolen credit cards have suffered significant blows both in size and scope. The researchers stated that a large part of this is down to law enforcement action, which has helped to take down large carding markets and led to several arrests of high-profile cybercriminals. The researchers also pointed to improved user authentication mechanisms and behind-the-scenes real-time fraud detection from banks and card companies, as well as e-commerce firms, as helping to depress the market for stolen cards. That said, the average monthly price of card details, including CVV numbers stayed relatively consistent during 2022. Interestingly, while the share of compromised US cards on dark markets dropped from 58% to 49% between 2021 and 2022, the UK's share increased from 5% to 13%. The researchers stated that the United Kingdom has the most compromised cards per capita in the world, with one compromised card for every 68 residents. In contrast, the US has one compromised card for every 88.
Infosecurity reports: "Stolen Card Volumes Plummet 94% Globally"