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Data breaches from webshops result in large numbers of card fraud cases

In thousands of cases, consumers see their cards abused following online shopping. As a bank, we have taken a number of steps to protect customers.

It is far from always due to careless behaviour when consumers have their credit or debit card abused online.

Rather, the reason is often that consumers used their card in a webshop that is subsequently hacked or which in some other way leaks data such as card information. This is according to Sune Gabelgaard, senior analyst and fraud prevention specialist at Danske Bank.

“The driving force behind online fraud is data compromises or breaches, in which for example a webshop or a service provider to a webshop leaks data. This could be card data making fraud possible. In most cases by far, the consumers are blameless and have no way of preventing it from happening. The consumers have not been reckless when using their cards – they just used them for online shopping.”




Protecting our customers

According to Danske Bank’s own figures, there were some 18,000 cardholder dispute cases last year, in which customers of the bank said they had fallen victim to online-related fraud. This was about the same level as the year before.

According to Sune Gabelgaard, data breaches make up a great part of the high number of cases.

“It may seem scary when you hear about this trend as a consumer. However, as a consumer you can keep an eye on your account, for example using our Account Balance Service. Furthermore, we as a bank continuously monitor transactions in order to spot those that stand out and could indicate fraud. This makes it possible for us to try and stop the fraud attempt before it becomes successful,” says Sune Gabelgaard.

What we do to protect customers

We recently published our report on sustainability in 2018 - here you can find information about our efforts against fraud.
Competent employees

More than 90 competent employees worked to fight against fraud in 2018. 
Screening of payments

Every month, more than 10 million payments were screened to detect those that stood out. 
Replacing cards proactively

3,242 cards were proactively replaced on average every month due to data breaches.

What consumers can do

  • As a consumer, you can keep an eye on your account to see if you recognise the amounts deducted. You may also want to use our Account Balance Service so that you are notified once amounts above a certain threshold are deducted from the account.
  • Danske Bank customers also have the opportunity of opening and blocking cards with regards to online shopping. This is done through our mobile banking solution.
  • If you as a consumer experience card abuse, you are encouraged to block the card right away.

How consumers are protected in case of fraud 

  • Customers who fall victim to this kind of fraud must file a cardholder dispute. Subsequently, the bank will compensate the loss.
  • With our digital cardholder dispute solution, we aim to minimise the bad experience related to fraud by ensuring a swift compensation and replacement of the card.
  • The bank takes care of the investigation and seeks to use knowledge from individual cases to prevent future cases.