Visa cards blocked in fraud scare

24 March 2005

AMSTERDAM — Thousands of Visa cards have been blocked in the Netherlands amid fears criminal gangs have got hold of payment details.

Paysquare, one of the firms that distribute Visa cards in the Netherlands, discovered signs of a large-scale fraud on Friday 18 March.

Some 10,000 of the 2.2 million Visa cardholders in the Netherlands will receive a letter over the next few days to inform them their cards have been blocked as a preventative measure. Paysquare told NOS News it is working to replace the cards with new ones.

Paysquare spokesman Jeroen Jungerius said an investigation in recent days has established that information was leaked electronically from a company outside the Netherlands that handles customer information for the Visa cards.

This company works for other Visa card distributors in the Netherlands and investigators are working to establish if the fraud goes beyond Paysquare.

Criminals use the leaked information to clone Visa cards issued by Paysquare and make bogus payments across Europe.

Paysquare has promised genuine customers will not suffer any financial loss, but it has declined to say how much money might have been stolen.

Subject: Dutch news