Cases of credit/debit card fraud on DI slow

As the old slogan for a popular credit card goes, "it’s everywhere you want to be." But that also means the risks are everywhere as well. Even on Daniel Island.

About one in three consumers in the United States have reported credit card fraud in the last year, according to a National Public Radio report. Last summer, Daniel Island residents Lora and Pat Connelly were reluctantly added to those statistics when they joined a growing list of island residents to be impacted by the crime.

"We have had that account for over two decades and never had any trouble," said Lora. "Our son noted the irony that he lives in the inner city of Baltimore and we live in a nicer, overall safer area. We had credit card troubles and he has not."

Jeanette Henderson, another Daniel Island resident, had two cards breached, one in March and another in September.

"There is still a risk," said Henderson. "…Even if this data was stolen four months ago, they could just be getting around to printing the cards….Because I did a little research on it, I think I’m a lot more aware of ways my credit card numbers can be stolen….And there is really no way you can completely protect yourself against it."

When the investigation into the Daniel Island cases began last April, reports initially were filed with the City of Charleston Police Department. About 24 cases of credit or debit card fraud on Daniel Island were reported to police, and another six were reported in other parts of the city, according to Sgt. Donald Daquigan of the department’s white collar crimes division. Later, the Charleston office of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) took over the cases, but continued to work with police and other authorities. A "point of compromise" was identified on Daniel Island, said USSS Resident Agent-in-Charge John Kenney, and steps were immediately taken to shut down the breach.

"We feel that the cyber breach that occurred was closed and if people are still getting their credit cards compromised at this time, that’s a separate occurrence," said Kenney, who did not disclose the business impacted. "…That merchant has taken very specific steps that the industry demands…and they are costly steps, to repair that breach."

According to Sgt. Daquigan, the cases on Daniel Island are similar to others that have been reported in Columbia, S.C., as well as in Alabama and other states. He believes the breach, not your typical credit or debit card theft, may have taken place in another location altogether.

"With the time period we’re talking about, we’re not even sure if the compromised cases were on Daniel Island or in Charleston or anywhere else," he said. "It could be happening at a place where all of this information is stored…I know people (on Daniel Island) are worried, but I don’t believe it’s going to be a restaurant or a grocery store doing this. It’s a little bit more sophisticated than that."

While Agent Kenney didn’t feel it would further the investigation to comment on the specific nature of the breach, he did report that there are several fraudulent tactics they have ruled out.

"It is not a skimming case, where an individual employee has a device that takes credit card numbers…It’s not dumpster diving. This is high-tech cyber stealing and they utilize faults in the software that companies use to process their payments. This is one of the many ways that people are stealing credit card numbers in cyber world and it so happens that this particular case happened on Daniel Island, but every community that has access to the cyber world can be impacted."

That’s where folks like Daniel Island resident Dana Vosburgh come in. Vosburgh is the senior vice president of sales for Merchants United, LLC, a company that helps businesses with secure payment processing solutions. He estimates that as many as half of all businesses on Daniel Island may not be fully protected against credit or debit card fraud.

"Credit card industry compliance is fairly new, and a lot of merchants don’t realize it," said Vosburgh, who had his own personal credit card compromised back in May. "…You have to be compliant with rules, and the rules vary depending on the volume of transactions you do and the type of system you use."