It was my birthday yesterday but since I currently have no work, my cash at hand is rather low. I was wondering what I wanted for my birthday? Something simple and useful. Something I can give to myself without the accompanying guilt of spending too much. Probably a massage, God knows I needed one. Then I was wo ndering how would it feel to be financially free? To have tons of money and spend it whichever way I want. I want to buy that P30M Porsche displayed at EDSA. Cool! People say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery so much easier, he he.
There I was fantasizing about money… and then I recalled a few years back when I was so engrossed with computer software, internet, and computer games. That time, I have a client at my computer shop asking me if I have Windows 3.11 and if I could install it on his PC. I said I don’t have that OS anymore since it was “Jurassic”. That was my exact term.
“Why would you want to have that installed anyway?”, I said.
“We have Windows XP or 98 if you want.”
“I need Win 3.11 OS because that’s the only system where one of my programs work,” he replied.
And he added confidingly, “I have this credit card software that works only in Windows 3.11 and I use it to purchase some stuff.”
I was surprised and got very curious. I said I would try to make his PC work once more.
Unfortunately for him, his hard disk had crashed, that’s why it wouldn’t work.
“Too bad,” he said morosely. “That was my only copy of the software. I got it from a friend in the States.”
Right after he left, my insatiable curiosity got the better of me. Armed with just that incident, I roamed the internet and sought knowledge on credit card hacking. I have no intention of hacking credit cards, but I have heard a lot of this stuff from the news and thought I should educate myself on this. That’s one trait I have, I never stop until I get it if it’s possible. I used tools, I formulated strategies, reformulated them again when they didn’t work. Attack from a different angle. Eventually, I got a couple of programs that work in any Windows system. The credit card wizard can give you any number of cards you want. When I say any number, I mean even 100 Master cards, Visa Cards, Bank of America cards, etc… There must be dozens upon dozens of card types that I can choose from and generate any number I want. I was surprised on how easy it was. With a little persistence, I can even generate names, addresses, telephone numbers and US zip codes that are all valid and can be used to make a virtual persona. By this time, I’m about to wet my pants with excitement. I have been telling myself I won’t use the program. But I have to know if it would really work. Maybe the credit card companies have upgraded their systems. It’s foolish to think that just because I have the card generator, that it would work. I thought carefully on this. I don’t want the police in front of my computer shop arresting me for card fraud. What I did was select a pay per view movie website. They have new movies that you can download online and they are offering free membership for the first week, just enter your credit card number to verify that you have one and you’ll get free access for a week. If you don’t want to continue, just cancel your subscription before 7 days. I thought not much harm in this; I don’t plan on downloading anyway, just see if I can access. It’s also a good thing that my computer shop is not using static IP so I believed then I would be more difficult to track, just in case. With much trepidation, I created a fictitious account of a fictitious person somewhere in Arizona. I entered one of the numerous cards that I generated and presto, the very first one worked. I have access for a week. I immediately left the site, shaking. So that’s how somebody feels when they knowingly do something very wrong. The blood rush was genuinely addicting. I swore I would never do that again. I never gave the program to anybody, and I am no longer sure if it would work, knowing all the security checks implemented on credit cards nowadays.
The credit card firms and the vendor companies probably do not have the time nor resources to track down every purchase and if they tracked it to other countries, it would even be more time consuming and expensive. They block the cards and focus on the bigger aspects of their business. Small losses, small attention. Big losses, bigger attention. Focus on improving security, that’s probably what they’re thinking. Nevertheless, a hacker can generate more cards and they can be as tenacious and merciless as lematics (small leeches in Mt Makiling) if they put their mind into it.
The way I see it, you have to dip first into the water before offering advice on how to jump.Credit card hacking may give you fast and easy money. But the risk of being discovered and going to prison is also high. The oppressive weight of the deed will surely bear on the conscience of a morally ethical person. What motivates me now is an obligation to do what I believe is right and the assurance that my conscience would let me sleep at night. In the end, I reflected that the best birthday present I could give to myself is not just an indulgent massage but a clean conscience and a bright outlook for the future. Everything that we do in this life affects us and the seemingly harmless things that we leave behind are the things that could destroy us. -melchor, sept 2009
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