You Do Not Have to be Paranoid
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The latest idea to allow you to pay
your smaller bills using a mobile phone does not fill me with great
confidence. The number of mobile phones stolen each year could mean
that a thief could withdraw quite a lot of money, even though it will
be in small amounts for each transaction, without any risk.
Contactless or 'pay by wave' credit
and debit cards did seem to be a good idea but I recently heard that
thieves with hand held scanners were testing them in crowded areas to
see if they could identify people carrying them. They would then simply
use the scanner to make a transaction or steal the card and use it a
number of times before reaching a payment limit or the card being
deactivated. It is hard enough to get the banks to deal with phantom
cash machine withdrawals let alone phantom contactless payments.
My wife thinks I am becoming
paranoid when I purchased a new wallet which has a stainless steel
thread covering the outside. It effectively shields any cards in my
wallet from scanners. It however does afford some protection and
particularly in crowded tubes or the upcoming games.
I know the maximum amount that can
be withdrawn is supposed to be £25 but the time and hassle in getting
this refunded and a new card issued makes me wonder if it is worth the
risks.
There was a similar situation when
the first passports were issue with an embedded chip and were waved at
a scanner. I haven’t heard of any major problems with those.
It could be that I am overly
concerned and it may not be a risk at all, but my gut feel is that the
thieves are getting cleverer by the day and this is too much of an easy
way to make money that they will simply not be able to ignore.
Tags: bank security, information
security, Personal security
About the Author
Chris Eden FIBC, MISSA, ACQI is a director of Quality
Matters Limited an established independent management consultancy based
in Essex, UK which specialises in ISO14001 Environmental Management
consultancy.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2012-06-21 11:58:51 in Computer Articles
