The NYT has an interesting and disturbing piece on the black market in credit card numbers: Black Market in Stolen Credit Card Data Thrives on Internet
The online trade in credit card and bank account numbers, as well as other raw consumer information, is highly structured. There are buyers and sellers, intermediaries and even service industries. The players come from all over the world, but most of the Web sites where they meet are run from computer servers in the former Soviet Union, making them difficult to police.Traders quickly earn titles, ratings and reputations for the quality of the goods they deliver – quality that also determines prices. And a wealth of institutional knowledge and shared wisdom is doled out to newcomers seeking entry into the market, like how to move payments and the best time of month to crack an account.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that roughly 10 million Americans have their personal information pilfered and misused in some way or another every year, costing consumers $5 billion and businesses $48 billion annually.
The sophistication of the process is remarkable anbd hardly comforting.
