In this episode of the Stumble Forward Podcast I’m going to be talking about a new credit card scam and chances are if you’ve gotten a new credit card lately you may now even be at a greater risk of having your info stolen due to a new technology that credit cards are using to make purchasing stuff easier and faster.
Yup, I’m not even kidding about this, the credit card companies are putting you at risk. Now later on in this article I have a video you don’t want to miss on how this scam works, but first I want to talk about this new technology is and after the video I will give you some actionable steps to avoid this from happening to you.
What You’ll Learn In This Episode
- How this scam works without even touching or seeing your credit card.
- How to protect yourself from this scam.
- How to know if you are at risk of this scam.
What Are RFID Credit Cards
First off, RFID stands for Radio Frequency IDentification. Below is the actual definition that Wikipedia defines as an RFID card.
Definition: RFID Credit Card – A contactless smart card is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits that can process and store data, and communicate with a terminal via radio waves.
What this basically means is that any card that is RFID enable will have a small micro chip implanted on it that carries all of you vital credit card information on it. On top of that the chip is also gives out a radio frequency which allow the card to be waved in front of a scanning device and they will instantly take your info.
Getting a little nervous yet? If you are like me you might be wonder right now if your credit cards have this technology already on them, and their is a real quick way to tell if you do.
A couple of things to look for are a little radio way signal or if the card has a name like PayPass, Paywave, or Blink, you have a card that has RFID technology. Below are some pictures of what this might look like.
How RFID Credit Card Fraud Works
So before I get into more about this scam and how it works below is the video I promise on exactly how scammer are using this technology to rip unsuspecting people off.
When it comes down to it these scammers don’t need a whole lot of sophisticated tools to steel your credit cards and start using them. So follow the advice I give in the podcast.
- Put your credit cards in a protective sleeve or wallet, or even wrap them in tin foil so they can’t be scanned.
- Ask your bank to see if you can get a new card with out the RFID technology.
- Finally, if you can’t get a card without RFID consider switching to a car that does not have this technology.
Links Mentioned In The Show
– Affiliate Link- Identity Stronghold RFID Blocking Credit Card Secure Sleeve and Passport Case Set (10x CC Sleeve and 2x Passport Holding Sleeve)
– Affiliate Link
Wrapping Up
So wrapping up what are your thoughts on the RFID technology? Is it something that we really need or is it just going to cause more impulse buying and allow us to get ripped off easier?
Share your thoughts, comments, and tips below.
Chris, thanks so much for this episode. It was very enlightening.
I have to step in and correct you on one thing. You said “there’s no fraud protection on a debit card”. Maybe you weren’t aware but Visa and MasterCard debit cards have the exact same Zero Liability Protection as their credit cards. This has been the case for at least 5 years and has saved my wife and I from three separate incidences of debit cards when our cards were compromised. In each case it only took a few minutes on the phone to have the charges reversed and a new card on the way.
Here is a link: http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/zero-liability.jsp
The only time the protection doesn’t apply is when the PIN number is used, which is not stored on the card. This makes the debit card just as vulnerable, and as safe, as a credit card.
Thanks Chris.
Thanks for the update Steve, I heard about the zero liability policy shortly after doing that episode but I want to thank you for adding the update I really appreciate it.