There is a new technologies that credit cards use these days that makes it even much easier to make a buy. You simply wave your credit card in front of the machine and you do not have to slide it with the magnetic strip. But this same technology also tends to make it less complicated for identity thieves to steal your credit card information. In truth, all they need to have to do is walk by you or bump into you, and instantaneously they have every thing they require to use your credit card to make major purchases or make a copy your card for themselves.
So how is this probable?
These new credit cards have a technology known as RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. This small chip acts as an antenna that will answer the call when the proper device sends a ping. The ID thieves can use a $100 piece of gear that is put to use at most drug shops in order to carry out this new type of swiping. In most instances they don't even have to make direct get in touch with with you. They can walk by with a brief case or Ipad case and just get within inches of you for your card to be compromised.
Having said that, not just about every credit card has radio frequency technology. Perfect now there are pretty much 1.two million folks who have these RFID cards, but this quantity is growing all the time. In truth, a lot of think that this new technologies is the wave of the future and soon all types of identification will be making use of radio frequencies like these credit cards.
So are you at danger?
You ought to check for the little radio symbol on the back of your cards to see if you are at danger. A lot of new cards are using this technology so it is fantastic to be conscious of any potential threats to your identity. But just since you do not have any cards with RFID chips in them now does not mean you will not be at danger in the future.
Credit cards are not the only factor these ID thieves can steal by walking by you.
Any United States passports that were issued soon after 2006 are now making use of the RFID chips, and a crook can walk by you and take all the info they need to compromises your identity if you have 1. Some states are even using the technologies in the drivers licenses they problem, and this is an even higher threat since they have longer signals and the data can be retrieved from more than 6 feet away.
