Educational Analysis: Carding and Countermeasures in 2025

[Jollier]

Important: The material is provided solely for the study of cybercrime methods and protection methods. Any illegal actions are prohibited and entail criminal liability.

1. Who are "professional carders"?​

These are members of organized crime groups (OCG) specializing in:

• Theft of card data (through phishing, skimming, malware).
• Cashing out funds through fictitious accounts, cryptocurrencies or purchasing goods.
• Selling data on shadow forums.

Where do they communicate?​

• Closed carding forums.
• Telegram channels with a verification system.
• Elite chats (by invitation only).

*According to Europol, 80% of such groups disintegrate within 2 years due to internal conflicts or actions by law enforcement.*

2. How do law enforcement agencies identify carders?​

Investigation methods:​

1. Infiltration into chats
   • Agents are introduced under the guise of "buyers" or "drops".
   • Example : Operation Cyclops (2023), which saw the arrest of 30+ OPG members.
2. Transaction Analysis
   • Transfer chains are tracked via SWIFT and Blockchain (Chainalysis).
3. Cooperation with banks
   • FICO Falcon and IBM Safer Payments systems automatically block suspicious transactions.

Statistics (FBI, 2024):​

• 92% of carders leave digital traces (VPN logs, OPSEC errors).
• 70% of arrests occur due to leaked correspondence.

3. Why is carding ineffective in 2025?​

Technical reasons:​

• EMV chips make card cloning almost impossible.
• Biometrics (Face ID, fingerprints) replace PIN codes.
• AI fraud monitoring (eg Sift ) blocks 99% of suspicious transactions.

Financial risks:​

• The average sentence for carding in the US is 10 years in prison.
• Banks collect damages through the courts ($500K+ fines).

4. Legal Alternatives for Studying Payment Systems​

If you are interested in financial security, study:

1. PCI DSS standards (card data protection).
2. Ethical Hacking Courses (CEH, OSCP).
3. Bug Bounty (search for vulnerabilities legally on HackerOne).

Conclusion​

Carding is a dying and extremely risky "profession". Modern technologies (EMV, AI, biometrics) and laws make it unprofitable.

For study:

• The book "Dark Market" (Misha Glenny) is a history of cybercrime.
• Course "Digital Forensics" (Coursera) - how financial crimes are investigated.