Chapter 2 - Mindset and Reality

This chapter is all about getting into the mindset of a carder or fraudster. It’s designed to help you understand the reality of fraud and how to approach it successfully. Don’t skip ahead—read it chapter by chapter as intended.

First, let’s get one thing straight: don’t aim for $1,000,000 a year right out of the gate. That’s fantasy land. When you’re starting out, aim for a few hundred dollars a month, then work your way up to a few thousand. Baby steps. You need to walk before you can run. This is the mindset you should have while going through these series at HamCodes.

I’ve been where you are. I bought guides, scoured forums, and talked to experienced members, only to realize that no one is going to hand you a profitable method on a silver platter. Why would they? Revealing their methods would burn their cash cow. What you do need is the right knowledge to develop your own method. That’s what this course provides.

Stop wasting money on those "$100,000 in a week" guides you find on shady dark markets. They’re garbage, and they’ll only discourage you. This is the only guide you need. Trust me.

Each carder has their own unique method, and yours will depend on where you live and what you know. The key is understanding how fraud works—the logistics, the process, and the mindset. Once you have that, finding your own method isn’t hard. It’s about having the guts to pull it off.

Here’s a tip: start small and local. Don’t try to commit fraud in countries you don’t understand. Familiarize yourself with your own financial systems first. For example, want to know how to open a fake bank account? Go open a real one with your own ID. See what they ask for, what documents they require, and how the process works. Then, you’ll know what you need to fake it.

Now, grab your own credit card and look at it. Imagine it’s stolen, and you’re the thief. What information do you need to make a purchase? The card number, expiration date, CVV, and the cardholder’s name and address. That’s the basics. But here’s the kicker: having the details isn’t enough. You need to know how to use them without getting caught.

Here’s how to practice legally:

Pay attention to what gets flagged, what gets approved, and what triggers a call from your bank. This isn’t fraud—it’s research. You’re learning the system so you can replicate it later.

To sum it up, here’s what you’ll need to card successfully:

This chapter is about understanding the process, not copying someone else’s method. Once you know how the system works, you can create your own approach. That’s how you card like a boss.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we dive deeper into the tools and techniques you’ll need to succeed.

Remember: this guide is for educational purposes only. Always stay within the bounds of the law.
Mindset and Reality (2025 Update)

This chapter is about adopting the mindset of a carder or fraudster in today’s digital landscape. The game has changed—AI fraud detection, blockchain forensics, and biometric security are everywhere. But the core principles remain: understand the system, start small, and adapt.

Forget $1,000,000 a year. Start with $500/month. Why? Because banks and merchants now use machine learning to flag any transaction that smells "off." Last week, a rookie tried buying a $2,000 Rolex with a stolen card on a fresh VPN. The payment gateway froze the transaction, traced the VPN to a data center, and auto-reported it to Interpol’s Financial Crimes Unit. He’s now explaining his "research project" to a judge.

Today’s Golden Rule: Small, realistic targets keep you under the radar.

In late 2023, a group exploited a loophole in a popular e-commerce platform’s gift card system. They’d buy $50 gift cards using stolen credit cards, then resell them for crypto on Telegram. The genius? They limited transactions to $200/day per card to avoid triggering fraud algorithms. By rotating cards and IPs, they pulled in $20k/month for six months before the platform patched the flaw.

Why It Worked:

The Lesson:
They didn’t invent a new method—they observed. The platform’s gift card system had weak CAPTCHA checks and no purchase velocity limits. By testing small purchases first, they mapped the system’s blind spots.

Want to practice in 2024? Here’s how to stay legal while learning:

The 2025 carding game isn’t about brute force—it’s about pattern recognition. Banks know you’re using VPNs. They know you’re spoofing devices. Your edge? Observe how legitimate customers behave.

Example:
Legit buyers often:

Mimic this. Be boring. Be forgettable.

Next Chapter: We’ll break down how to clone EMV chips without buying a $5k card printer. Spoiler: It involves NFC hacking and a $30 Android phone.

Stay small. Stay smart. Stay free.

Disclaimer: This guide is fictional and for educational purposes only. Cybersecurity laws vary—always consult legal counsel before testing security systems.

Cheese

Don't skip through this course and read through it chapter by chapter as it was designed to be read.

First things first. Don't aim for a 1,000,000 USD a year because that's fantasy land friends. When you're starting out in carding or hacking for profit you should be aiming for a few hundred dollars a month and then work your way up to a few thousand a month before aiming your sights bigger once you have a handle on the horse. This should be your goal when going through these series at hamcodes. Baby steps. You need to walk before you can run and understand what reality for you is. There's no point in reading a guide that talks about something that is way the fuck beyond your grasp or even possible for you. It would be awesome if I could find a guide that taught me how to build a jetpack and fly off to the fucking moon in no time too but that isn't fucking reality. Thinking like that all you're going to do is set yourself up for failure, in everything. Be realistic within your skill set and you'll have much success.

I realized that by purchasing other guides, going through the forums, talking with experienced members, and meeting my friend the harsh reality was I wasn't all of a sudden going to be making millions of dollars over night by reading one carding guide. I hate to burst your bubble but this is why most guides disappoint everyone. I realized fairly quickly with carding, as will you, that no one is going to reveal a profitable method on how to card or commit fraud. Think about it. Why would anyone release their methods on how they commit credit card fraud?! Would you? If they revealed their own method they would burn that method and stop making money. This is something you will not find, for obvious reasons.

Again, no one is going to tell you their private methods of carding. This should make sense to you and it's important to know this. Now with all that being said you don't need to know anyone else's carding methods. You really don't. What you need to know is the right information in order to develop your own method. I have included a chapter on how I found my methods that explains everything which will give you much insight into building your own private method. This carding course is the real deal comrades and will show you what is your reality should you choose to card until you go full tard.

Stop buying the other guides on "How to card $100,000, 6 Ferrai's, and 18 hats" for $7 on whatever bullshit dark market you're desperately looking on. It's fake and the creator of those shit guides want you to purchase a bullshit guide that's trash and doesn't work. Avoid this as it will just discourage you and play some fuckery in your mind. This is the only carding guide you require. Trust that my friends.

Each carder has their own methods on how to card successfully and each method will vary greatly depending on where you live in the world. It's impossible to create a carding guide that encompasses everything for everyone in the world but by finishing this carding course you'll have the knowledge, expertise, and experience needed in order to find your own method that works for you. To be honest finding a method when you have the right knowledge is not difficult by any means. Understanding how fraud works, how it's performed, and the logistics of it all is what you need to learn in order to be successful. It's really not that difficult once you have the right information but it will come down to whether you have the balls to commit it and pull it off.

The advice I was given when I started in 2012 and the advice I'm going to give you is don't try learning how to commit fraud in countries that you don't reside in or aren't familiar with at first. There are too many financial institutions in the world and each financial institution has different anti-fraud protections in place. This is silly. The best way to understand and perform fraud successfully is to make it relevant to your life and what you know.

Want to know how to open up a bank account that can be used for your fraud life? Walk into the bank you want a fake account in and open an account with your real identity and close it a week later or just fucking forget about it. By going through the process of opening a new bank account you'll see exactly what will be required in order to open up a fake bank account. Did they ask for ID? Did they ask for letter of employment? Did they need an address to send your credit/debit card to? What tools and equipment are you going to need in order to open a fake bank account? Understand yes? Think like this.

In order to be successful in carding, or any fraud for that matter, you need to know the ins and outs of what you're doing. Obviously. So let's get into this.

Grab your purse and take out your OWN credit card and look at it. Just imagine your credit card was stolen and you're the thief that took it. You have the physical card in your possession thus you have the credit card (CC) information you'll be needing to attempt an online purchase and potentially an in store purchase. Since it's your own CC you obviously know your home address and the details required to proceed with the checkout. With that information you can, in theory, use that card to make an online purchase. This is the mindset. Before you commit fraud think of how you make the purchase legitimately and the logistics required to make the purchase. You want to become the card holder and appear to make a legitimate purchase.

Everything you see on your CC is what you're going to need to commit online fraud. Got it? We need type of card (VISA, Mastercard, etc.), CC number, CC expiry date, card verification value (CVV/CVV2), and the name on the card. With these details we can now attempt to card.

The part you don't know, yet, is how to card with success. If you're logging into a website over Tor and using a stolen credit card to make an online purchase. Guess what? That shit isn't going to work. Of course not. If someone has your CC details and they attempt to make a purchase from Nigeria it's not going to go through. This shouldn't surprise you. The point is, even though you have the proper details (your CC information) to make an online purchase you need to know how to make that purchase fraudulently.

Want to know how to make a CC fraud purchase? A good start as a beginner is testing everything on yourself first. If I'm writing malware I first test it out on myself to make sure it's going to function to my liking so why not everything else?

Here's what I mean by test it on yourself. I have my own credit card so I have the CC details and I know the address and name on the card because the card is mine. I drive over to the next town, find a coffee shop, connect to their Wi-Fi network, load up a fresh Ubuntu virtual machine, connect to the website with Firefox, and try to make a purchase online with my own credit card to see what happens. Did it go through? Did it matter I was using a VM? Does it matter if I'm making a purchase from a different location then my address on the CC? Did I get an email of text from my financial institution about the purchase? See what happens when you do this. This will give you much insight on what you'll need to perform carding successfully and by doing these "tests" you're not doing anything illegal. Make a simple online purchase from XYZ website to see what's what.

Now re-do all the above when you're using a VPN from the same geolocation as you. Do it again using a VPN in a different geolocation then you and finally try it over Tor. If you get a phone call from your CC provider just say you're using a VPN or proxy service to make the purchase online. The conversation will be informative and interesting but remember you're not doing anything wrong. You're simply using a VPN/RDP or Tor to make a purchase with your own credit card online. This is not fraud. This is fine. Most important, you'll know what will go through and what will cause issues.

I'm not saying commit credit card fraud against yourself I'm simply stating for you to make a legitimate purchase online with your CC with different variations of your setup to see what gets flagged, declined, or accepted in order to solidify what you'll need to be most successful. Will using a VPN cause more suspicion than an open Wi-Fi network at a coffee shop? Do you even need a VPN? If so, does it need to be close to the card holders address? If you choose not to test this on yourself I hope you understand my point of doing this and get what I'm trying to show you. This is very valuable. Trying things on yourself will give you great insight into what you'll need to replicate to be successful with whatever fraud you're trying to pull off. More importantly, like I said we all know something different and think differently, maybe you know of a store in your town/city if you were to card one of their items you can sell it for high value or use it. Testing a small legitimate purchase first with various setups is a good way to see what works and what doesn't work real quick, and legally.

Once you know the "proper" process of how something works then you'll know what's needed to card successfully which will help you develop your own carding method. This is why you don't need other people's carding methods because knowing how something works will give you the knowledge to card like a boss using your own method. You think everyone is just copying each other's methods?! Of course not. We, just like you will, create our own.

To make a purchase with a stolen card you will require:

Credit Card (CC) including name, CC number, CC expiry date, CC provider, and CVV number.

Name and address of the card holder.

Connecting from an IP close to the card holders address (this depends but we'll get into it).

Connecting from an IP that isn't blacklisted or flagged as malicious

Using a "normal" operating system with a normal web browser to make the online purchase.

Think about the process needed in order to be successful.

The ability to clone a credit card

Social engineering abilities and social skills.