You may have seen those ads on TV – the ones where the suspicious-looking character with the hand-held device sneaks past the unsuspecting pedestrian. In just the blink of an eye — voila! The victim’s complete credit card information has been stolen by the sneaky, device-wielding thief.
Unfortunately, this isn’t merely a worst-case scenario dreamed up by an over-imaginative marketing department; it’s urban fact. Thanks to modern technology, a criminal can steal your identity by simply walking past you and recording your credit card information, using a hand-held electronic card reader that anyone can purchase for less than $100. This device has the capability to instantly skim information from the radio frequency identity (RFID) chip imbedded in your credit cards. Your credit card information will then be displayed on a computer that’s equipped with a magnetic strip-writing device, which can be used to counterfeit a new card.
