"Pickpocket Makes Luxury Payment... Be Careful with Credit Cards When Traveling Abroad"

Amid a surge in fraudulent use of credit cards overseas, including theft, loss, and forgery, following the recovery of travel demand after the COVID-19 endemic (periodic outbreak of infectious diseases), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a consumer alert of "Caution" on the 19th to prevent accidents during overseas travel ahead of the upcoming year-end holidays.

According to the FSS, the scale of overseas credit card fraud reached 1.66 billion KRW (1,198 cases) in the first half of this year. Among these, theft and loss accounted for the majority, with 1.5 billion KRW (1,074 cases).

There have been confirmed cases where pickpockets stole travelers' bags amid the chaos at tourist attractions and used the credit cards inside to purchase high-priced items such as luxury bags. There were also cases where store employees stole the credit card IC chip during the payment process and installed it on another card, or where fraudulent use occurred after duplicating the magnetic stripe of a physical card using a card skimmer installed on private ATMs.

In response, the FSS emphasized the need to subscribe to the "Overseas Use Safety Setting" and "Overseas Entry and Exit Information Utilization" services before departure to prevent damage. By setting the card usage country, usage period, and single transaction amount through the Overseas Use Safety Setting service, unwanted overseas payments such as fraudulent use can be prevented. If you agree to the use of overseas entry and exit information, offline overseas payments will be blocked if there is no record of departure or after domestic entry is confirmed.

Additionally, caution was advised that users may bear some responsibility if the signature on the back of the card is missing or if the card is transferred to another person. Since card information can be leaked through various methods, it is important to thoroughly manage card numbers, expiration dates, CVC numbers, and passwords, and especially to avoid using private ATMs that pose a high risk of incidents. It was also emphasized that in case of card loss or theft, it is necessary to immediately report to the card company along with information such as location, time, and contact details.