Passengers are victims of cloned card at Lisbon airport

An employee of International Airport de Lisboa used customer cards to make online purchases. The criminal, as she had easy access to credit cards of customers and data, used this opportunity to clone the card. See how the employee's theft scheme was carried out.

Employee arrested after investigation

Check out how she carried out the robberies and how she was caught.

1. How was the data stolen?

The employee – there was no disclosure of the sector or airline she worked for – had access to passenger cards on the moment of boarding registration, moment in which she photographed the front and back of them, where are the necessary data to make purchases online. One of her purchases was worth one thousand four hundred euros, which converts to a total of seven thousand eight hundred reais. The purchase involved more than 50 beauty cosmetics from luxury brands.

2. How was the catch made?

During one of her attempts to make another victim, she was caught by other employees photographing one of the cards so that it could be used in the robbery. After being caught, she was denounced, then an investigation was opened to find out how many times this cloning scheme was carried out.

After investigation, she was arrested and framed for the crime of Scam Informática (Theft through electronic fraud). For this type of crime in Portugal, there is a penalty that varies from 2 to 8 years, depending on the value stolen from the victims.

Learn tips on how to avoid similar situations

Some banks offer card insurance services. The service is paid, but it can be of great help when something like this happens, as well as in cases of card loss. But there are other recommended ways to have greater security for your cards. One of them, and the most recommended one, is to use security in two steps, so that, when making the purchase, a confirmation message of purchase is sent to the cell phone requesting the continuation of the process, only with this return, the application.