Selling CVV Data Is a Federal Crime
A CVV or CVC is a three or four digit code tied to a payment card. It is an access device. Selling one that belongs to another person is trafficking in an unauthorized access device under 18 U.S.C. Section 1029. First offenses carry a maximum of 10 years in prison. Counts tied to losses above $1,000 in a 12 month period raise the maximum to 15 years. There is no state or federal license for this activity. No legitimate processor settles those payments.
This page does not explain how to run that trade. It explains what the trade is, what the penalties are, and what defenders do about it.
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Why Cheap, Fast Listings Exist
Fraud markets advertise bulk card data at low unit prices because stolen numbers expire fast. Issuers cancel compromised accounts after a fraud report, often within hours. Sellers push volume because each number has a short working window. Many listings are fabricated. Buyers who pay in cryptocurrency or gift cards have no recourse and no legal standing to file a complaint.
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Parameters Defenders Track
- Card not present authorization rate, by channel and merchant descriptor
- CVV mismatch decline codes and their share of total declines
- Velocity: card attempts per IP, device, and email address in 24 hours
- BIN country versus billing country mismatch
- Chargeback ratio, by product category and shipping method
- Refund and reship requests filed inside 48 hours of purchase
Controls That Block Stolen CVV Use
PCI DSS Requirement 3.2 prohibits storage of sensitive authentication data, including the CVV, after authorization. Merchants that keep the code in a database build the inventory that resale markets want. Tokenization replaces the card number with a surrogate value that has no use outside one merchant. 3-D Secure adds an issuer side check during checkout. Address verification and CVV verification together catch more fraud than either check alone.
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If Your Card or Store Is Affected
- Report unauthorized card use to the issuer. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, consumer liability for unauthorized card charges caps at $50 when the report is filed inside 60 days.
- File a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. IC3 logs the report for law enforcement referral.
- Merchants: preserve transaction logs, isolate the affected endpoint, and notify the acquiring bank and card brand.
- Request a new card number if the code was exposed in a breach.
Pitfalls in Card Not Present Checkout
- A legitimate checkout asks for the CVV. It does not ask you to email the code, send it in chat, or read it on a phone call.
- Sellers of card data request payment in cryptocurrency, gift cards, or peer to peer transfers. Card networks do not process those payments.
- Low price is a signal of low quality inventory or a staged scam, not a discount.
- Buying card data is a separate federal offense from selling it.
Known and Unknown
Penalties, PCI DSS storage rules, and consumer liability limits are published and stable. The total dollar volume of the CVV resale market is not published by any regulator, so any figure you see quoted is an estimate.