Is it easy to utilize radio frequency identification in this manner?
—Name withheld
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No, it’s not easy. I wrote about the issue of stealing credit cards in a recent blog posting (see Are RFID-Enabled Credit Cards Safer Than Magstripe Cards?). There are those who claim they can easily steal data either by just skimming credit-card information from an unsuspecting consumer, or by carrying out a relay attack.
My personal view of this is that the credit-card industry would not introduce RFID cards if they were likely to lead to more fraud, rather than less. What’s more, if it’s so easy to steal credit-card data, why have there been no credible reports of people being victimized in this manner? And third, if it’s as easy to steal credit-card data as some purport, they why didn’t anyone take me up on my offer to videotape them doing it, so that we could post the proof on our site for all to see?
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal