By Mani Raj
A new study by the security software maker Symantec Corp. indicates that demand and prices for stolen credit cards, Social Security numbers and other private information is stable.
The supply for such data is steady too as the recession has led to new scams targeting people who are unemployed and worried about their finances.
One reason as suggested by the study is that prices for some private records have been falling for years and now they can't go any lower. Nowadays stolen credit card numbers go for as little as 6 cents each, if they're bought in a bunch like 10,000 at a time. The price can go upto $30 per card for smaller orders.
Access to hijacked e-mail accounts: 10 cents to $100
Bank account credentials: $10 to $1,000.
These scammers can hire people to 'cash-out' stolen bank accounts for about 8 to 50 percent of the amount they're stealing. The hosting charges for such scam Websites ranges from $3 to $40 per week.
Security experts not involved in this Symantec's study state that the prices for stolen credit card numbers may not be falling anymore because they have hit a bottom. The stolen credit card numbers have become less useful because of anti-fraud measures. The crooks now need additional details, like PIN numbers or the security codes on the back of the cards, to sell as a full package deal.
Phony "phishing" e-mails have led to the rise in stolen data as the economy is getting worse. Three-quarters of the phishing e-mails examined by Symantec were banking-related, for things like low-interest loans and mortgage refinancing. When the victim paid for these fake services, their money disappeared.
Symantec detected a staggering 66 percent increase in the number of phishing Websites from last year.
Symantec found after studying data from more than 200 million personal computers running its antivirus software, that 200 million e-mail accounts do nothing but collect spam and information from large corporations.
The study estimates that more than 5 million U.S. consumers lost money to phishing attacks from September 2007 to September 2008 - a 40 percent rise on the estimated number of victims a year ago.
--------