The secret code of your credit card is sensitive in the same way as a password. If hackers manage to find this code, then they can easily withdraw money from your account – and discreetly. This is why banks warn their customers about this secret code: you should never share it and even your bank advisor does not know it.
While payment by credit card has seen strong growth in popularity over the past few years, the number of frauds on this means of payment has also increased. This type of scam would even represent 3% of all fraud recorded in France, or several tens of millions of euros per year. The criminals are doubling their creativity to steal customers’ money, like this fake sticker placed on ATMs.
The 10 secret codes to avoid at all costs
Banks are increasing awareness campaigns on bank card security. You should not share your code with anyone, even with a (pseudo) bank advisor by phone. You should not simplify your secret code either for convenience: avoid your date of birth or a series of numbers that are “obvious” for you. Indeed, with the combination which is made up of 4 digits, hackers have a one in 10,000 chance of identifying the correct one.
Nick Berry, a former data expert at Facebook (Meta group) had fun identifying the 10 most dangerous secret codes. Using statistics as well as databases, he has therefore developed a list with the codes that must absolutely be avoided to minimize the risk of theft. With the same reasoning, he also created a list of the 10 secret codes to privilege: the very principle of this list is questionable, so we cannot recommend them to you.
Credit card codes that should be avoided:
- 0000
- 1234
- 1111
- 2222
- 4444
- 7777
- 1004
- 1212
- 2000
- 6969
As for passwords, where the famous 123456 is sadly famous, it is necessary to deviate as much as possible from easy secret codes to cover the tracks of hackers. So banishing 0000 or 1234 is an obvious measure. In the same way, avoid all codes where the numbers are the same. The holder’s date of birth is also a number to avoid: hackers are often in possession of this information, so they will be tempted to use your year of birth (or your date dd/mm) to access your funds.
Banks are perfectly alert to this type of scam, and it is for this reason that they voluntarily limit the amounts that customers can withdraw / pay. In general, there is a ceiling of a few hundred euros in withdrawals per week (which also makes it possible to avoid attacks on the distributor) and a few thousand euros in payments per month. The more premium cards, such as Gold from Fortuneo, allow for more flexibility.
Secret CB codes “to be preferred” (or not):
- 9629
- 6093
- 0859
- 6827
- 7394
- 6793
- 8398
- 7063
- 0738
- 8957
- 9480
- 8093
- 7637
- 6835
- 8068
The above list of secret codes that should be “preferred” according to Nick Berry should be taken with a grain of salt. This list is available on the web, so it is likely that hackers have also become aware of it. We can therefore only advise you to also avoid these secret codes.
Furthermore, bank card holders are strongly advised to change their code regularly. From the banks mobile application, you can update it in a few clicks. It will only take a few seconds. You must also avoid any handwritten trace of this secret code: this exposes you to another type of scam.
