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Russian POS Pickpocket Generates New Interest In RFID-Blocking Wallets (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A Facebook post depicting a man apparently stealing from commuters by tapping a POS reader against them unobserved on public transport caused a sensation on Facebook before being removed earlier today. The provenance of the photo is uncertain, but unnamed authorities have said that it was taken in Russia. Since this type of opportunistic street theft requires a merchant business account through which any transactions would be easily traceable, the question arises as to how such acts of fraud are being made profitable. Comments on the matter have brought up anew the topic of RFID-blocking wallets as necessary everyday security.
Even easier - just cut horizontally into the card from the right hand side about 2-3cm. It severs the antenna but the card is still usable in all non contact devices.
I've been using contactless payments for well over a decade now, and I love it. All buses, minibuses, trams, trains, ferries in Hong Kong take the contactless Octopus card for payment. No fuss with exact change (buses don't give change) or buying single ride tickets. Just swipe and move on, payment done in a fraction of a second. Use them for small payments in convenience stores and supermarkets, vending machines, etc. Many car parks are Octopus-only even.
I have also never heard about any (large scale) fraud with these cards. I really don't know the ins and outs on how fraud is prevented, but obviously it works well. These cards were introduced some 20 years ago and pretty much everyone has one. There have been several technology upgrades which all have been seamless from the user pov.
So I really can't say they're dumb. They're awesome. Wouldn't want it otherwise, it's just too big a big PITA to have to deal with all those small payments in cash.