How to protect yourself from digital theft

For a digital money or identify theft, the perpetrator does not even have to reach and steal your wallet physically: with a RFID reader or even a smartphone with an app it is possible to identify card data or read cards out over short distances. 

Balances that have been transferred onto a cash card can easily be stolen without any protection. Amounts up to 250€ simply "disappear" without the victim being aware of it.

The problem of cashless payment

Newer credit cards are equipped with a so-called NFC or RFID chip. The goal: just hang up your card at the cashier and the purchase is already paid - this is fast and seems very convenient at first, but also makes it easier for fraudsters to steal data.

So almost everyone has the oppurtunity to intercept and misuse this data with certain devices and know-how. As a "crime scene" are preferably popular department stores, railway stations, subway stations and other public facilities to call.

How valuable are the stored data?

The card number and expiration date are among the data that can be read out easily. Now think about what digital thefts should do with purely this data! The answer is easy: the payment for most online shops only requires the last four digits of the card number as well as the expiration date. Its easy to order on Amazon via a foreign card and deliver the package to a completly different adress. They will not even notice or control it!

But "worse" than the loss of money can weigh the identify theft. With stolen information from your passport, club and key cards, the offender can pose as the victim or create a whole profile about what a person did and cause massive damage to the other's life. Affected are above all credit cards and health cards - these contain important information that is extremely valuable in the r i g h t hands. 

How to protect yourself!

Now, it is not common for someone on the tram to go around with a RFID reader and try to fish for information. But you can not rule it out - and the barriers to entry are very low: suitable readers or s i g n a l amplifiers are available for only a few bucks. The needed know-how can be read in detail in different networks.

Measures for protection:

• wrap cards in aluminum or copper foil

• use an RFID blocker card

• switch to a modern slim wallet with RFID protection