Visa has received intelligence from a third-party entity indicating that a criminal group has plans to execute a large batch settlement fraud scheme.
The criminals claimed to have access to account numbers and the ability to submit a large batch settlement upload to occur over a weekend. Visa does not have any information as to when the
fraudulent settlement activity may occur. The criminals claim to have access to a merchant account placed with a bank in Eastern Europe.
Upon receipt of this notification from the third-party, Visa immediately implemented monitoring of large settlement activity for banks located in Eastern Europe. To date, Visa has not seen abnormal or large settlement activity. Visa is continuing to monitor and will alert any affected Visa clients of abnormal activity, if necessary.
Although the source of the information is reliable, the information that Visa has received coming forward so far is limited. Visa suspects that this scheme may be linked to a consortium of online merchants that have been trying to secure processing arrangements after being shut down at several acquirers across many geographies.
Risk Mitigation Strategy
To minimize the possibility of fraudulent settlement activity, Visa clients should, at a minimum, consider taking the following actions:
Implement monitoring for large or unusual settlement activity
Conduct monitoring daily, especially over weekends and long holidays
Review settlement and chargeback activity for high risk merchants and agents
Summary
In the event that Visa clients detect this type of fraudulent activity, immediate action must be taken to investigate, limit the exposure of cardholder data, notify Visa, report investigation findings, and inform your local FBI office or local law enforcement.
To notify Visa, please contact the appropriate regional office:
U.S.: (650) 432-2978 or usfraudcontrol@visa.com
Canada: (416) 860-3090 or canadaInvestigations@visa.com
Source: Company press release.
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