DEFINITION of ‘Fullz’
A slang term that criminals who steal credit card information use to refer to a complete set of information on a prospective fraud victim. Fullz include, at a minimum, the victim’s name and billing address; credit card number, expiration date and card security code; and Social Security number and birthdate. Criminals can sell fullz for about $100; incomplete sets of consumer data sell for less. Criminals buy and sell fullz in the black market, usually on-line, and use them to commit credit card fraud, tax refund fraud, medical identity theft and other types of fraud.
Also spelt as ”fulls”.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS ‘Fullz’
Criminals often obtain the information in fullz through hacking. If you’ve been the victim of another company’s data breach, there could be fullz with your data available for sale on the Internet. Criminals also sell lesser data sets that include, for example, only enough credit card information to make fraudulent purchases on-line; a credit card’s magnetic strip data, which can be used to make counterfeit cards for fraudulent purchases in stores; or a victim’s PayPal account information, which can be used to siphon funds from a victim’s bank account.
There are basic steps anyone can take to minimize becoming an identity theft victim and having fullz with their personal and account information sold around the internet. It is important to always shred financial documents before throwing them away and to avoid conducting financial transactions over insecure Internet connections, such as public WiFi. However, it is difficult for consumers to avoid becoming victims of identity theft since they must share personal information for everything from applying for a credit card to going to the doctor, and consumers have no control over what the service provider does with their personal information once they provide it. Consumers should regularly monitor their bank and credit card accounts and their credit reports to check for signs of fraudulent activity and attempt to stop any fraud before it goes too far.
Laws protect consumers against financial losses caused by fraud, but they don’t protect against the hassle of fighting it.
