Carding Forum

Somewhere, in the deepest, darkest corners of the Internet, we're sure there are online carding forums dedicated to discussion of behavior so bizarre and so anathema to mainstream morality that it would melt your imagination. Don't worry. We don't plan on talking about those. On the carding forums we're concerned with here, they just deal with stolen credit cards.

These online carding forums feature thieves buying and selling stolen credit card numbers. They also include tips for prospective thieves about techniques, like the practice of "carding," where stolen account numbers are used to buy prepaid gift cards in an effort to throw off detection.

With the introduction of chip cards and using PIN numbers to make purchases, it has made it more difficult to use stolen credit cards. However, these are only good for "card-present" purchases, not those made online (AKA, card-not-present purchases). These kinds of transactions are the bread and butter of credit card thieves, and the focus of much of the discussion on the carding forums.