NCJ Number
161078
Date Published
1995
Length
232 pages
Annotation
This book presents the findings and recommendations of an 18-month British study designed to research and document the extent of organized plastic counterfeiting in the United Kingdom, to examine measures used to prevent plastic counterfeiting, and to identify and prioritize measures to reduce plastic counterfeiting.
Abstract
As used in this book, "plastic counterfeiting" includes altering and re-embossing genuine charge, credit, or debit cards; re-encoding details of a genuine account number on to the magnetic stripe of another genuine card; producing "white plastic," a generic term for any plastic card used to imitate the functions of a genuine card; and producing completely counterfeit cards, often referred to as "colored plastic." One chapter reviews the historical background of plastic counterfeiting, encompassing Thailand as the origin of Far East counterfeiting, Malaysia as a counterfeit manufacturing center, Hong Kong, and France. A chapter on statistical trends addresses global counterfeiting losses, losses by three major credit card companies, and the evolution of counterfeiting in the United Kingdom. A chapter that describes the counterfeiting process is followed by case studies of criminal methodology and a review of Triad (Eastern organized crime) involvement in organized plastic counterfeiting. Seven chapters on countermeasures for plastic counterfeiting pertain to crime-prevention methods, the authorization process, merchant practices, card payment systems and industry investigators, a law enforcement perspective, the role of legislation, and information sharing. The final chapter contains recommendations on crime prevention; intelligence gathering and detection; and partnership between police agencies and the industry in crime prevention, intelligence gathering, and detection. Appended full research findings and supplementary material, a glossary, and an 85-item bibliography