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Are RFID Skimmers FUD? Or a real, present threat?

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wraith808:


I've pledged for a minimal wallet on Kickstarter: Wally Micro - The Minimal Wallet with a Few Surprises.  As always comes up in these campaigns, people asked about RFID protection.  So they did some research and a blog post: RFID: To Block – or Not To Block.  They also referred to another article: The Skimming Scam.

A quote that I think sums it up:
The real threat to credit card hacking is in the form of ATM skimmers. Thieves place readers into any ATM or point of sale device where cards are read, and all of your data is collected. For them, it's much more efficient and they can gather thorough data in large quantities this way. Unfortunately, a foil sleeve or lined wallet can't protect you from this. The good news is the U.S. is finally adopting the Euro-style chip and pin pairing called EMV cards. They've been using this across the pond for nearly a decade, and it seems to be an effective redesign for minimizing fraud.

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That's been my feeling for a while, and the fact that the human factor is a big issue, i.e. carrying everything and not knowing what you're carrying with big bulky wallets.

An an interesting quote from the Slate article: If you’re going for maximum efficacy, however, few [RFID shields] work as well as simply wrapping your cards in aluminum foil.

Stoic Joker:
An an interesting quote from the Slate article: If you’re going for maximum efficacy, however, few [RFID shields] work as well as simply wrapping your cards in aluminum foil.-wraith808 (October 21, 2015, 03:15 PM)
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Plenty of which should be left over from making the matching hat..

(Sorry couldn't resist)

I've actually been toying with adopting this practice.

4wd:
I've pledged for a minimal wallet on Kickstarter: Wally Micro - The Minimal Wallet with a Few Surprises.-wraith808 (October 21, 2015, 03:15 PM)
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Going a little off-topic, nice looking idea except the price kind of kills it - for the last 30+ years I've just been using the plastic card wallets the bank provides free as my cash/card wallet.  About 3mm a side bigger than a card and can hold up to eight.

wraith808:
I've pledged for a minimal wallet on Kickstarter: Wally Micro - The Minimal Wallet with a Few Surprises.-wraith808 (October 21, 2015, 03:15 PM)
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Going a little off-topic, nice looking idea except the price kind of kills it - for the last 30+ years I've just been using the plastic card wallets the bank provides free as my cash/card wallet.  About 3mm a side bigger than a card and can hold up to eight.
-4wd (October 21, 2015, 07:04 PM)
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Yeah... I've been getting a lot of minimalist wallets as of late, and price isn't so much a factor as addiction to collecting them is :)  The cheapest I've gotten is the Dash 4.0.  The most expensive, I don't even want to talk about.  But there's quite a few choices out there, and each has its advantages and disadvantages.  I just don't like back pocket wallets anymore.

Renegade:
I just don't like back pocket wallets anymore.
-wraith808 (October 21, 2015, 08:02 PM)
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I gave them up a few years ago. (5 I think.)

This is the wallet that I've been using ever since:



Mine's a bit worn though. :)

I put the chips of my cards down in past the metal and wrap the cash bills around the cards. 

But yes - RFID hacking is very real:

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