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Flaw in New Visa Cards Would Let Hackers Steal $1M Per Card
New submitter biomass writes with news about a flaw in Visa's contactless card that lets anyone charge $999,999 to it. According to researchers at Newcastle University in the UK, the card system developed by VISA for use in the United Kingdom fails to recognize transactions made in non-UK foreign currencies and can therefore be tricked into approving any transaction up to 999,999.99. "With just a mobile phone we created a POS terminal that could read a card through a wallet," Martin Emms, lead researcher of the project that uncovered the flaw, noted in a statement about the findings. "All the checks are carried out on the card rather than the terminal so at the point of transaction, there is nothing to raise suspicions. By pre-setting the amount you want to transfer, you can bump your mobile against someone's pocket or swipe your phone over a wallet left on a table and approve a transaction."
A good majority of small transactions are never caught or challenged. Credit card thieves figured this out a long time ago when card skimmers and the internet came about. People don't really pay attention like they should.