Debit card/identity theft continues to be a problem, both locally and internationally.

Customers of First National Bank of Gilmer were hit in late April by someone sending text messages to their cell phones telling them their debit cards had been deactivated and to call an 800 number to reactivate them. Once the perpetrator(s) got the information, they proceeded to use the personal financial information to drain money from the victims’ accounts.

FNB President Kelly Stretcher said that about 75 of the bank’s customers were affected, with about $15,000 scammed from them, even though the bank instantly put out security alerts warning the customers of the scam.

The largest single theft was for about $750.

Stretcher said that people in Upshur, Wood, Gregg, Smith, Franklin, Cass and Marion Counties were victims of the scam, which apparently was blanket-generated through a computer network.

He said that even though it wasn’t required to, First National Bank replaced the stolen funds in its customers’ accounts.

He warned not to give personal information, such as Social Security numbers or account numbers over the phone or by e-mail.

He said that banks would never request personal information over the phone, and that if the bank needed to talk to someone, they would call them and ask them to come to the bank in person.

“They take money from people who earned it honestly,” Stretcher said.

Bank Information Security, an Internet news service, reported Tuesday that 178 were arrested in card fraud raids.

The article, by BIS managing editor Linda McGlasson, said that police in 12 countries targeted the fraud ring based in Spain.

The article said that “In what is being called one of the largest credit card fraud ring busts to date, the Spanish Interior Ministry says police in 12 countries have arrested 178 people suspected of being part of an international crime gang.”

The article cited a statement from that ministry which said the arrests resulted from a 2-year investigation and included raids in France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Australia, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Hungary and the United States. Eight of of the suspects were arrested in the U.S.

The article cited police sources which said “this alleged gang was involved in credit card fraud, robbery with violence, extortion, sexual exploitation and money laundering. The group is believed to have made more than $24.5 million from its illegal activities.”

The police found 11 laboratories for falsifying credit cards, and over 120,000 stolen credit cards and 5,000 cloned cards.

The article said the arrests show organized crime is involved.

Avivah Litan, a security analyst, said the bust is “noteworthy for its size and location. It is unusual in that it was based in Spain, not Eastern Europe where such operations often are based.”

The Internet article said that “Card fraud is a global problem. But historically the sophisticated crime rings associated with manufacturing cloned cards have stemmed from Central and Eastern Europe.”

The article said that “Data is very easy to send over borders; it is very portable, [and] the nature of crime is international. . . . The card data can be stolen anywhere, and then used anywhere in the world. In this case, it looks like it was a very organized ring.”

The article said that analysts say an improved payment card security system is needed.

It suggested having the U.S. adopt the “Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) standard, which relies on a chip and PIN —not the traditional magnetic stripe, which is more susceptible to fraud.” EMV has been adopted in most of the world, but not the U.S.

The current magnetic strip technology used in the U.S. is dates from the 1970s and 1980s.