JMMB confirms BIN card fraud attack on customers

JMMB Bank has confirmed that the Visa debit cards of a "small portion" of its clients have experienced a Bank Identification Number (BIN) attack.

It notes that a BIN attack is a common tool used around the world, for external fraudsters to gain access to any unsuspecting individuals' accounts to make fraudulent purchases.

The BIN, or bank identification number, is the first six digits of a debit or credit card.

Utilising the bank identification number, cyber thieves use computer programmes to guess a valid combination of the card number, expiration date and card verification value, or CVV number, which are all necessary components for executing a card transaction.

Criminals are able to try thousands of those combinations in a matter of seconds by using a software.

Last year banking experts warned of a rise in BIN attacks.

Among those issuing the warning was JMMB which urged its customers to minimise the amount of cash in their card-linked bank accounts and to be alert to changes in their bank data.

In posts to its social media on Saturday, JMMB Group said customers should always carefully review their transaction alerts.

"If you receive a successful transaction alert that you did not initiate report it immediately by contacting our Client Care Team at 1-876-998-5662 or visit your nearest branch to have the card blocked and replaced and to file a report," it said.

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