Electronic Pickpocketing

Protect Yourself from RFID Pickpocketing

There is no question that the risk of identity theft is a part of life. Those who may have been in denial about the possibility of becoming a victim of fraud are beginning to realize that no one is immune. Anyone can become a victim at anytime. Your personal information is always going to be at risk from fraud. Identity fraud detection was never easy. Criminals are constantly trying to steal our information for their own gain. Protecting your identity from criminals can wear on anyone. It seems as if there are always new methods of identity theft that are constantly being thought up. Just when you think that you’ve taken some viable steps to protect yourself from identity theft, there comes an entirely new way to become a victim.

People go out of their way to sign up with credit monitoring companies to curb their chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. Identity protection services are on the rise and more and more people are signing up for this extra layer of protection. Credit monitoring help can and does help to keep you from becoming a victim. ID theft prevention should be at the top of all of our lists. Many of these credit monitoring companies even offer assistance to help repair your credit should their identity protection services fail to prevent you from becoming a victim.

Until now, everyone felt that if they protected their wallets and purses when they were out and about, they would be fine. Men were told to keep their wallets in their front pockets to make it more difficult to be a pickpocketed, and women felt that if they held on to their purses tighter and they would be less likely to become a victim of a purse snatching. There is a new type of identity theft that a large portion of the population is not yet aware. It is called electronic pick pocketing and current statistics estimate nearly 140 million consumers are at risk. 

Credit card and debit card issuers have been installing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in credit cards for years. This chip is essentially an electronic tag embedded in the card that carries all of the card’s information. The intent of this technology is well-meaning, but don’t tell the criminals that. If your credit or debit card has a radio wave symbol on it, then you are one of the millions of people at risk for this type of identity theft. This same technology can also be found in driver’s licenses and passports, and there might even a version of it in your pet’s ear. Every U.S. passport issued since 2006 issued has a RFID chip in it. More recently cell phone manufacturers have been implanting these chips into cell phone and it is already in use in Europe.

This technology is convenient if you're paying for gas, because the tiny RFID chip can be read remotely without the need to physically swipe the card. This means anyone with a skimmer, which is available for less than $100 online, can also get your information just by walking by you. Yes, you read that correctly. A criminal with a skimmer can simply walk by you and capture your credit card information without laying a single finger on your wallet, purse or credit card. It doesn't matter if your cards are in a wallet or purse because the skimmers can read through them.

It is a scary thought and gives an entirely new meaning to high-tech identity theft. Thousands of travelers and consumers can fall victim to this new form of theft without even knowing it. It’s not just travelers and consumers who are at risk, but anyone with government, military or even port of entry IDs. This is definitely a threat and because the chips are cheap, about $1.50 each, this technology is going to be become more and more commonplace. Although there haven’t been any reports of anyone having their identity stolen through these means, even if it has happened, you won’t find out until it’s too late.

So now that you’ve been informed of this potential new threat, what can you do about it? How can you protect your credit card and debit card information and keep yourself and your loved ones from possibly falling prey to electronic pickpocketing? Well, Checks Unlimited has come out with a line of wallets and accessories that feature specialized RFID blocking materials. The new SecureMyID products from Checks Unlimited will help stop scanners from accessing credit card and debit card information. These types of items are already being used by government officials to help protect their information. To learn more on protecting your information and those of your loved one, visit  SecureMyID™ Wallets and Accessories!