How to avoid Contactless cards?

[Deleted User]

Malcnascar wrote: »

they will soon convert just like they did when cheque guarantee card came in

I haven't "converted".

I have neither Credit, nor Debit, card.

Ravenshade

BugsyBrowne wrote: »

There's more chance a 1 legged horse winning the grand national then your contactless card being scammed.

Hi,

I can explicitly state that this is not the case as with all new technologies, criminals are eager on the uptake. There are certain Hidden Services that provide credit card details, cvv, expiry dates, full card numbers in order for them to be used through services that don't require as much security data than say Tesco.

A lot of this information is obtained by the usual card reading devices placed on cash points at restaurants and so on and so forth. However an increasing number and this has almost tripled in number since this time last year have been obtained from criminals using this 'scan and walk' technique. With the devices that some of them are now using they could be sitting across the table from you and still be able to obtain the data on your credit card details due to how the technology works. With a chip and pin there is a requirement of contact however with these tags that broadcast, it's much easier. It's also much easier because this data isn't encrypted in the first place and just simply stored on the card waiting for someone to wave their smartphone over it. The tech is no more complicated than a barcode scanner or a phone picking up a wireless signal from a router.

The reason why the number is rising is due to risk. With the top card fraud still being cash points (or less risky, phishing websites), these are difficult to obtain. The evidence is often in plain sight and obvious to the trained eye (i.e someone who looks at source code) whether a machine or website has been tapped or not. The overwhelming advantage of contactless cards for criminals is that you can walk through a busy subway (london) with your phone card reader active and simply lean near someone. The criminal probably won't know if they've obtained data until they got back home and no one is any the wiser and the fact that this data isn't used by the criminal but instead 'sold' is the reason for the time delay of a few days.

...I may be spending a tad too much time on the wrong side of the net.

Eric_Jones

There's some seriously naive people on this thread.
As others have pointed out anyone can download an app for any smartphone that can read your card details without you even getting your wallet out of your pocket. There ARE enough details read to allow the thief to (for example) buy anything from Amazon to a completely different name and address.
If you have ever got involved in reporting a fraudulaent transaction to a bank and getting it reversed you really won't want to go through it again I promise you. OK, It's still unlikely to happen to you, but it WILL happen to somepeople and why take the risk of carrying an ariel round broadcasting your card details for a service that many of would never use anyway?
1-legged horses aside, this IS a problem and growing. It has been around in the US longer than here and it IS causing problems. The banks don't care as the cost of fraud is lower than the increased charges they will get from the transactions. They do not care about the hassle caused to those affected by fraud.
I do not believe that simply having another RFID enabled card in your wallet stops it being read. I have 3 RFIDs in my wallet and at least the doorlock one works perfectly when next to the other 2. At most it will simply require a more sophisticated reader to interpret multiple data concurrently.
If enough people request non-contactless it will be much cheaper for the banks to offer non-contactless. Who are you trying to kid that it will be too expensive? The banks all offer a host of different cards already.
You can disable the contactless function without affecting the mag strip or chip and pin by cutting the ariel. But different cards have the ariel in different places. Some run round the edge. Some are nearer the middle.