Online Poker

I found an article this morning from "The Local: Sweden's news in english" this morning on credit card fraud involving online poker.

It seems that according to their bank statements nine Skaraborg locals have each lost an average of 10,000 kronor playing internet poker, despite the fact that not one of them has visited the web sites.

Police identified a common thread they all shopped in the same place in Skövde and paid there with cards.

It seems a cashier at the shop wrote down both the account number and the card's security code, and then used the details in online poker rooms. The fraudster is thought to have registered with false names and addresses and then supplied the details from the cards.

The nine people who were affected have had their money back, and police say they have an idea who was behind the fraud.

"The banks aren't putting any pressure on the poker sites to begin checking that the card number matches the name - maybe that's a bit slack," said police inspector Christer Jönsson to TV 4 Skaraborg.

We at Poker.com agree that this case shows how lax some site's security is. It could never happen here due to our strict verification procedures. A lot of players seem to get a little bit annoyed when we request verification that they are the cardholder, but in the long run it is making sure that we have the safest site when it comes to fraud and credit card security.

The best thing to do is always use a third part wallet like Click2Pay or NETeller, so that only one trusted company has access to your credit card information and deposits and cash-outs are always a breeze.

Shane @ Poker.com