Domination 02 ch12 Illegal

Hack and Phreak

Welcome to the second issues H/P chapter as I mentioned last issue I will try to complete my summary on credit card fraud. Incidentally in case you were just curious, why phreak is always spelt with a 'p' instead of an 'f' is because in the old hack scene of telephones the 'p' stood for phone. :) Let's continue.

Credit card information and usage. the following is a list of ideas and facts that have been brought together for the sole purpose of educating those who lack this knowledge. In publishing this, I do not intend for the reader to use any information contained herein, but rather to further his education and provoke thought to perhaps better the society we live in. :)

Part 1. Card types.
The first digit of the card number or as known to most, CCN, determines the credit card type. A simple list:

First digit: Card type:

    3      American express

    4           Visa

    5        MasterCard

    6         Discover

Part 2. Bank and branch numbers.
Within the first group of 4 numbers from the left (called group 4) is where the bank name and branch are contained. We have already discovered that the first digit of group 4 reveals the card type. we will now look at how to decipher which bank issued the card, and which branch of the actual card holder banks at.

Look at the second, third and fourth digits of group 4. These three numbers tell which bank issue the card, for example a visa card in group four. 4560/XXXX/XXXX/XXXX XX/XX the 4 defines its a visa and the 560 reveals its from the bank of Hicksville. BTW check out last issue for a listing of bank and branch numbers.

Part 3. Bank codes
These are used in checking credit. Later on you will learn that while checking the credit cards for the amount of credit, you will be prompted to enter the bank ID along with the merchant ID (also published last issue). One thing, you cannot just use any bank ID with any merchant ID. They must correspond in some way. How EXACTLY, I don't know. I think that a bank issues a merchant number to each of their customers. If you try to use a merchant number with a bank number, and the merchant doesn't actually use the bank that is specified by the bank number, you are going to get some problems. But this is only my theory. Also another thing is that with visa cards the bank ID's are the first four digits.

Part 4. "Group 3"
Group 3, or the second group of numbers on a credit card in from the left, contains some very useful information about the card. This group holds the information on the maximum expiration date and the maximum credit limit (I believe you can all see the benefits of this). This does not mean however that the actual expiration and actual credit limit are in this group. What it means is this: when the credit card companies issue credit cards to the consumer, he of course has a credit limit. And when the companies formulate credit cards, they create certain groups for certain customers. That is, certain 'groups' contain all the credit cards for people with a credit limit between $x and $y.

The same thing goes with the expiration dates. Everyone whose card expires after m1/y1 and before m1/y2 has their credit card in a certain group formulated by the company. I have found that small groups of cards with high credit limits are often hidden in between large groups of cards with very low credit limits. for instance, lets look at this card: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. from -XXXX until 4600 in group three (from the right) gold cards may exist.

But after 4600 and before 4567, cards with $500 credit limits exist. Now once you learn how to modify these without hurting the card, you have increased your value as a card holder by 100x but be careful. Often when you modify a card's group 3 to get a higher credit limit line of cards, you will find the entire line is dead. Or, in other cases, just the original card you find is dead and all surrounding cards are valid with the new credit limits.

Part 5. "Group 2" + "Group 1"
These two groups, or the last two groups on the credit card, are the easiest to modify. By changing these in such a way you can formulate new credit cards simply by doing a little math in your head. These two groups contain the identification codes. Later on in your carding careers, you might find out how to change these, and thus, you have found the secret to a vault of new and awaiting credit cards.

I stress here that the only purpose that these two groups serve is to differentiate between customers. If the first two groups of two cards are the same and the last two groups of two cards are different, the two cards were issued by the same bank and probably have similar credit limits, but are of course issued to different people.

Part 6. Credit card verification.
Once you have a newly formulated or newly found credit card, you must first check to see if it is valid before you distribute or use it. The reason for this is this: although you may not have faltered in your calculations and you created a credit card following the correct formula, the card may turn up as invalid. This is because it has not been issued yet. Visa or MasterCard has not been issued that card to a customer yet. You are ahead of the credit card company (don't you feel important??!). If this case arises, simply formulate a new credit card from the original valid credit card and check it once again. There is no known way around this except to wait.

Okay - you want to check your credit card and see how much money this person has. There are many, many credit verifiers around. The easiest way to get a hold of one is to go into any store which accepts credit cards and look on the side of the machine that imprints the carbons with the credit card number, etc. Or, look right on the wall extension to the register. There should be a number to call, a merchant number and perhaps a bank number. Jot these down and head on home. The format for these is usually different, but all have the basic idea in mind. Call an operator of some sort, tell her the authorizations information that she asks for (bank number, merchant number, etc..) and give her the card and amount for which to verify the card. She will check and let you know if it has enough credit left, for example ask for $300 even.

When you check a card for a certain amount of money, that amount of money is subtracted from the amount available on the card. For example, if a card has $5,000 left on it, and you get a hold of it and check it for $2000, you can only spend $3000 before it tells you that you don't have the necessary credit to go through with a transaction.

Part 7. purchasing merchandise.
Okay, now that you have a valid credit card, you will most likely want to get some newly acquired merchandise. This is all fine and dandy, but if you don't know what your doing, you can get yourself and most likely your friends in a lot of trouble.

A word of warning: never order something from your own house. Always have a story worked out before you call. That is your name, address, job, phone number, excuse for not being home, mother's maiden name, etc. Any stuttering or hesitation could blow the whole show!

First let me clarify something, when you order something over the phone and the person selling you the items wants to know the actual cardholder's name, address, phone number, you do not give him/her the correct information (unless: you do have to give the person correct information if they have an online connection to a credit record bureau such as CBI or TRW. In this case, as they can verify everything that you say in a matter of moments, just do your best, get a new card and never order from this company again). But if you stick with little businesses that need the money, you'll do fine. Bullshit your way through or hire a social engineer to do it for you. You do not have to give the correct expiration date! Almost any expiration date will work as long as it is not too far ahead in time so that it jumped over the actual expiration date. The company from which you are buying things from cannot verify the extra information you give them until after the order has been placed. They have to get in touch with a credit union. My suggestion however would be to give them a phone number of a payphone (USA/Canada) near the drop point, or even better give them the number of a direct dial VMB local to the shipping address. Second - where should you ask to have the goods shipped to? Before you call and order your things, first go out and find an abandoned house or holiday house. These still work the best. Write down the address. This is referred to as a 'drop site' or 'drop point'. Tell them this is where you live, remembering that they cannot verify if you live there for quite a while. When the shipment comes (either overnight, second day or whenever) pick it up casually and stroll home to open your package. If it doesn't come or the sales person gives you trouble, its either because it got intercepted by the authorities or the company didn't process it because they did actually try to verify your address, name, and phone number, thus delaying your shipment, but saving themselves a lot of money.

Some simple way of actually social engineering some credit cards would be for example you: "hello, Mrs. Davis? this is Mr. Off from security down at Citibank. we have had a computer breakdown and none of your visa transactions can be processed since we lost some of your credit card information. Do you think that you can give me some details again, so I can re-enter it right now?"

Mrs. Davis: "wait a minute, who is this again?"

You: "my name is jack off and I am from Citibank security. (explain whole situation again)"

Mrs. Davis: "I don't know about this. can I call you back at a number?"

You: "Sure. That's no problem. I understand your reluctance. Here call me at my office. Its XXX-XXXX-XXXX" (pay phone, loop, or bridge which you are at).

Mrs. Davis: "ok, bye!"

(click)

(ring...)

You: "Hello? this is jack off's office, Citibank security, may I help you?"

Mrs. Davis: "oh, good. I was afraid you were a phoney. ok my visa is..."

You: "Thank you. We will try to restore your credit limit as soon as possible. until then, please refrain from trying to purchase merchandise on your Citibank visa card. Goodbye."

(click)

Neat, huh?

That will round-up this illegal segment and the credit carding will continue next issue with some advanced techniques and some other topics... off topic: actually right at this moment I myself have to vacant the house I am living in due to "parties", I just got the eviction notice around four hours ago! BAH! No risk no fun!