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Fake Card generators
There is any number of fake credit/debit card generator sites – that, supposedly allow you to create a fake card number to use on “dodgy” and “non dodgy” free trials etc
I have never found one of these numbers that works…..
I was wondering what the forum thought about doing this ?
What is the legality of trying this ?
If I was half as smart as I think I am - I'd be twice as smart as I REALLY am.
Comments
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Disposable card numbers can be created from a few banks, but, like the fake ones you seek, none will relieve you of any contractual obligations commenced as part of these "trials".
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I have never found one of these numbers that works….
Of course they wont, address check as part of the authorisation process.
Which you have to give for the goods to be delivered.
Life in the slow lane0 -
What do you mean "works"?
The first 4 digits identify the issuing bank and potentially also the card type (debit, credit, charge) and product (Platinum, Centurion, UK, US etc) - these are called the BIN
The last digit is a checksum so miskeys can easily be identified and save network traffic the formula for this is known and so software, websites etc can check if a number could be real before sending it off to the acquiring bank.
A fake card number generator may be using known BINs or not, they then create the next 11 numbers (10 for AmEx) and use the checksum generator to create the last number.
There is nothing wrong with generating numbers, trying to use them to purchase something or such obviously is fraud. If you try and use it in a live system then obviously firstly the bank will check with the issuing bank that its an issued card number, then if the expiry date, CVC number, address, name etc matches, then potentially 3D secure checks and finally if there are enough funds to clear the transaction.
When I was doing telesales training many years ago we had a bunch of "test" numbers to use in role playing that the test environment would accept and claim to have either received payment from (or there were the two which always fail) - this was coded into the environment as it didnt really try to take payments but did test both operators keying skills and making sure they spotted the cases when declined. When people messed up and put it through the live environment then obviously they all failed because they weren't real accounts.
Did have one messy incident where someone did go into live but the random account selected in the role play was one that did require up front payment… had to explain to the customer why their next statement would have 20 TVs and 100 pairs of Doc Martin Boots showing as having been ordered and cancelled.1 -
We have the same when we test upgrades, we have a test clone environment of the live system but it's called Dev1, Dev2, Dev3 and the credit card number is always 4111 1111 1111 1111 from memory i.e. it's an obviously fake one! We have one customer who has "bought" about 50 systems :)
Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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Visa & Mastercard (and I assume Amex) have development connectivity where you can test out that your software is passing valid numbers with all the correct encryption etc in place. Only allows a predefined set of test card numbers.
I've got a pretty good selection of bank accounts, the only one I have that has a 1-off disposable card facility is Revolut. Not much use if you want to make a single payment to something that expects recurring payments (like a Netflix account), the retailer can detect (somehow) that the 'card' will not allow repeat payments and rejects it.
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I have NatWest, RBS, Starling (off the top of my head) where I can create, use, then delete if I wish, a virtual card.
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Good point, I hadn't really considered these Virtual cards as being single-use but I guess there's no reason why not, assuming that creation is near-instant.
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Amex also offers a single use number with separate security code and expiry date, which you can generate in the app.
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Most retailers arent going to be hooking directly into Visa, Mastercard or AmEx but will be going via their acquiring bank like WorldPay, Barclaycard Merchant Services etc. They should equally have sandbox environments etc but may or may not hook into the card networks
Testing software is one thing, not really necessary however for the daily task of training dozens of call centre agents as the training environment can just be pointed at a small database of fake numbers with preset approved/failed responses to get them used to the screen flows and ensure they are typing accurately, actually reading the response, deal with the annoyed customer when payment is declined etc
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I strongly suspect under the rules like with CPAs, they will be able to charge the real card regardless of whether the single use card is deleted
Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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