Battle on Internet credit card fraud still long

Battle on Internet credit card fraud still long

Sandy Darmosumarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The lack of a coherent law that deals with credit card fraud
cases over the Internet is the main reason behind the
proliferation of scemmers (a device used to duplicate credit
cards). A legal framework needs to be immediately completed
before credit card companies, advocate groups, and legal
authorities can gain substantial ground in battling the problem.

There are two legal frameworks currently being discussed. The
draft law on information and electronic transactions is now in
the hands of the government, but has not yet been passed on to
the House of Representatives. Another framework is the cybercrime
act on information technology initiated by the House of
Representatives itself.

Thus, there are two avenues in tackling the Internet fraud
issue. The first is to create a legal framework which regulates
the use of information and transactions over the Internet. The
second is to create a legal framework which provides preventive
measures and punishes those who misuse information technology, as
a medium to commit crimes.

Country coordinator of the Global Internet Policy Initiative
(GIPI) Mas Wirgrantoro Roes Setiyadi, told The Jakarta Post that
the amendment of the cybercrime act reduced the number of
articles.

"Hence, the amendments have increased the strength and
coverage of the bill," he said. Mas Wirgrantoro is currently
vice-chairman of the Indonesian Telecommunications Society and
helped to draft the cybercrime act with the House.

According to a report, the volume of credit card fraud in
Indonesia reaches between Rp 35 billion to Rp 50 billion (about
US$5.92 million) a year.

The chairman of the Indonesian Credit Card Association (AKKI),
Budi Setiawan, told the Post that his association, through its
Indonesian Risk Control Unit (IRCU) is actively working with the
police, as well as holding workshops in an attempt to educate the
general public (including merchants) on how to avoid being
carded.

Due to the absence of a coherent law, "the police are now
using what they call a `red book', a manual to conduct credit
card investigations, in handling cases of credit card fraud over
the Internet," said Budi. "The manual has been in use since
1997."

Coordinator of the Jakarta based Information and
Communications Technology (ICT), Donny B.U., told the Post that
"the majority of carding (the term used to describe credit card
fraud over the Internet) activities are conducted in public
Internet kiosks." He added that "most kiosks do not check
renters' identifications and the majority of kiosk administrators
know their kiosks are being used for carding.

"According to the Indonesian Association of Internet Kiosks
(AWARI) almost 50 percent of revenue in Internet kiosks is
derived from carding," said Donny.

Hence, if Internet kiosks obliged potential customers to
produce identification, kiosks would lose business and they would
not be able to pay their high overhead costs.

"The most effective way to curb scemmers is to start from
Internet kiosks, however this may prove to be impossible as the
operators will not cooperate," he commented.