High tech identity theft ring largest in U.S. history

Oh wow. I'm glad they were able to stop them. Looks like some pretty clever work on both sides.

 

"...Also, there’s some effort to adopt a similar style credit card as used in Europe, which is embedded with a unique microchip, making it more difficult to fake. Apparently the thieves had gotten quite good at forgeries, with holograms on the identification that would’ve looked like the real thing.

Banks have been making quite a push as of late to stem this kind of criminal activity. Presumably, this will serve a classic case to study to find out ways to beef up security, especially as it relates to spotting fraudulent purchasing patterns,"

Relying on a magnetic strip on a credit card is really outdated.
A proper microchip isn't a panacee for everything but ctrl-c/ctrl-v the info from a magnetic strip is childplay, since over a decade.
The difference between 'some effort' and 'quite a push' means that US banks aren't considering a nation-wide credit card overhaul?
Odd to rely on analyzing odd purchase patterns instead of better tech. I guess it's cheaper.