Since we’ve covered the most significant features of the dumps carding-based payment system, let’s look at some more areas of this carding ecosystem that require specialized services for carders.

These specialist services alleviate the overall stress of managing the complete carding process on your own. Individuals and organisations that provide these specialized services typically collaborate with carders to manage the complete business model. The profit is divided among them based on the roles they each play. The following are the three most essential specialist services:

1. Runners
2. Droppers
3. Shoppers

Runners

Runners are risk takers who are on a mission to make illegal transactions using counterfeit cards obtained from carders. Typically, cardholders have messaging/email services enabled, via which the bank sends a notice message or email for each transaction performed on their cards. This may notify the cardholder that a fraudulent transaction has occurred, and he may request that his credit or debit card be blocked.

This is where the unique service of “Runners” comes into play. A runner is typically an individual or group whose primary goal is to complete as many fraudulent transactions as possible in a short period of time. Their primary goal is to obtain physical cash for immediate usage through ATM withdrawals. Runners frequently create many phony debit cards with the same information in order to withdraw money from multiple places at the same time. Runners’ major focus is on card details taken via ATM skimming since the information is current and active, and it may offer tangible cash from withdrawals.

There is another service that a Runner can provide, that involves lesser amount of risk. That service is having Fake accounts on Payment service providers like Paypal, Western Union, Ucash etc. The Runners are capable of creating multiple fake accounts with these payment services, and the buyer uses these accounts to transfer funds directly into these fake accounts. Paypal and Western Union are the most commonly used services for such frauds. Once the payment reaches the fake accounts, the Runner starts withdrawing funds or can safely transfer it to Buyers account by following the shield of multiple transfers.

Runners also hold fake bank accounts in different countries and use them to withdraw cash sent using stolen cards.

Runners are the risk bearers; hence their profit margin is also high. They usually charge the carder between 40 to 60 percent of the money stolen in a single run.

Droppers

Dropper is another intriguing specialized service that is widely used in the credit card theft industry. Assume the carder wants to conduct some online shopping from the dumps he acquired and buy some pricey luxury items. He has the credit card information, but he also requires a mailing address that cannot be traced back to him. Droppers emerged as the corporate answer to this challenge. The Dropper functions in a variety of ways. Renting an apartment for a month or two weeks is one of the simplest options. Dropper uses his phony IDs to offer false information in lease agreements in order to cover his tracks. The Dropper now has a shipping address to which the carder may send his stuff.

The Dropper may confer with many carders and furnish them with the address data in order to maximize the return on his labor. Droppers may also traverse borders to allow foreign purchasing for the carder. Once the Dropper has received all of the things supplied by the carder, he can leave his leased flat before the fraudulent delivery can be traced back to him. Some Droppers rent out PO Box numbers using fake or outdated IDs in order to receive things at their registered PO Box. Because the Dropper takes a substantial bit of risk, his profit percentage ranges from 30 to 50 percent.

Shopper

The carder’s counterfeit cards are used only by the shopper. The Shopper might be an individual or a group that specialized in performing stress-free shopping for items with counterfeit cards. This is vital since unsteady hands or a sweaty face may arouse suspicion while buying with counterfeit cards. Customers can also use fail-safe strategies to alert the payment supervisor if the card fails to authenticate. Shoppers are the most in-demand service in this fraud ecosystem since they carry less risk than other services and the carder may pay a small profit cut ranging from 10% to 20% in exchange for the shopped products.

The profit margin for Shoppers depends on the type of good the carder wants them to purchase. Expensive luxury items would require a larger profit share to be paid to the shopper.

The point to note here is the organized way in which this entire fraud ecosystem has been built up. The high profit margin and scope of evasions has attracted almost all the major cyber criminals into this ecosystem.

This type of balanced and optimized model does not come together overnight. It entails a process of evolution and development. What we have just learned is not novel. This payment fraud ecosystem has been growing beneath our noses for years and will continue to do so. In the final few pages, I’d want to talk about the Economics involved in this fraud ecosystem, its issues, and potential strategies to mitigate these concerns.