DO YOU NEED A RFID FARADAY WALLET?

WITH VISA AND MASTERCARD AGGRESSIVELY PUSHING FOR CONTACTLESS PAYMENT IN THE COUNTRY, USERS OF SUCH DEBIT AND CREDIT CARD MAY BE VULNERABLE TO A NEW KIND OF FRAUD CALLED THE SKIMMING SCAM

WHAT IS CONTACTLESS CARD

While the technology has long been used in the western countries, these contactless cards, which are now gaining prominence in the country, use NFC (near field communication) to make transaction. Each card has a contactless NFC chip and radio frequency (RFID) antenna, which is why they’re sometimes called RFID cards.

While shopping with a contactless card, the users only needs to wave it over the PoS terminal, and the card uses radio frequencies and a one-time code to complete the transaction.

The whole process takes a few seconds, making it infinitely faster than EMV chip cards.

The biggest issue, however, comes in the form of RFID skimmers, who use their own NFC readers to steal details from contactless cards.

RFID skimming can occur on busy city streets or in crowded subways, when thieves can get close without drawing too much attention.

To protect users from such fraud, wallet makers have started selling RFID-blocking wallets.

Till date, the actual reports of crimes involving RFID skimming in the country remains quite low.

Moreover, some experts believe that hackers would rather prefer to buy the info of thousands of people at one go online rather than taking this route.

NEW MEASURES

The RFID chips in cards now send a onetime code for each transaction, so at best, a determined thief might be able to make a single purchase by recording and replicating the signal he picks up from a given card.

For a purchase to be authenticated and authorized via phone or online, typically several pieces of information must be presented – including the three-digit code on the back of a card and the cardholder’s name and billing address. Since the card or device does not send the code, billing address or zip code information or name over the contactless interface, the thief won’t have the information typically needed to conduct payment transactions, either in person, on the phone or online.

There is a clear distinction between identity theft, where a consumer’s identity is assumed by another individual for criminal purposes, and payment card fraud, where a consumer’s card information is compromised and used to make unauthorized purchases. Contactless cards and devices do not transmit information about the cardholder such as name or address, so there is very little risk of actual identity theft.

In India, any transaction worth above `2,000 needs to be done via contact chip.