Greek Banks Replacing Up to 15,000 Credit Cards Due to Security Breach

Greece’s four main banks have proceeded with the cancelation and immediate replacement of some 15,000 credit or debit cards that were used in transactions with a Greek online tourist services website after reports of credit card fraud, Greek daily Kathimerini revealed this week.

The four banks – Alpha Bank, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, and Eurobank – said that they had taken the precautionary measures despite the fact that the website data breach affected a small number of users.

Card owners notified the banks that they had not given their authorization to the said purchases. The banks then canceled the transactions and have proceeded with the replacement of all the cards uses in online transactions with the specific travel website, which offers airline and ferry booking, ticket, hotel, car and travel insurance services.

Despite the upgraded security systems, it is often advised to use prepaid cards or top-up debit cards for online purchases.

The Greek banks informed the country’s central bank, the Bank of Greece, as well as Visa and MasterCard, which have launched investigations into the security break.

The inquiry, focusing on whether the website complies with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), should be complete by the end of March.