Fears are growing over the security of contactless payment schemes following claims that the 20 million people in the UK who hold cards could be at risk of having their bank details stolen.
According to reports, fraudsters can pick up a card reader for as little as £7 online and then read a stranger’s card simply by walking past them – a practice known as skimming.
Many big chains, including Waitrose, the Co-op, Boots, Pret A Manger, Subway and most recently Asda now offer contactless card readers at checkouts.
They use a technology – known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) – which transmits details via a radio signal, implanted in bank cards and are designed to speed up transactions.
Customers can swipe debit cards to pay for transactions totalling less than £15, doing away with the need for chip and pin.
According to the UK Cards Association, there are 19.6 million cards with contactless functionality in the UK and 73,000 terminals in shops and restaurants.
One report in The Sun showed three people being “skimmed”. Tony Sales, an anti-fraud expert from security company Rid Fraud, explained: “You’ve now got a 16-digit card number, expiry date and name. I can transfer these details to a blank RFDI card, which you can buy online for about £100 for a thousand.
“Then we’ve got an exact clone of the card, which we can use all day long in shops with contactless checkouts. Or we can simply go shopping online.
Contactless card readers are exploding in popularity. The Olympics site in East London is currently being fitted with 3,000 contactless Visa readers ready for the Games.
And this summer many of the big music festivals will supply RFID wristbands to reduce the amount of cash on site.
RFIDprotect director David Maxwell said: “It has been a big problem in America for a while and now it is getting to be a problem over here. It is a difficult thing to put statistics on because it’s hard to tell how your card details were skimmed.”
However, experts are calling on banks to raise awareness of simple steps which can combat the problem, such as lining a wallet or purse with tin foil – which blocks the signal – can easily prevent ‘skimming’.
