Prepaid credit cards susceptible to hacking

Hackers have stolen money from at least 500 prepaid credit cards in Belgium, report Het Belang van Limburg and Gazet van Antwerpen. Many victims have lost hundreds of euros, while others do not even know that their credit card has been hacked.

Prepaid credit cards are not linked to a current account, but are reloadable online, a bit like a calling card. Users choose the amount they want to reload, with a maximum limit of €8,000. Banks like Axa, Belfius and Bpost offer such prepaid cards, which can be purchased anonymously and used to execute payments without providing any form of identity.

Several financial institutions in Belgium have reported incidences of hacking, leading to significant amounts of money being stolen from the prepaid cards. According to the Brussels police, as many as 500 victims have reported money missing from their cards.