HOW DOES RFID PROTECTION WORK?
Skimming, digital pickpocketing and contactless theft are topics that you have often hear about in recent years. Regularly newspaper or the TV-news report about people who have their wallets being drained empty, without being very aware of it.
While the thieves' guild used to go out on the street to get your purse unnoticed, that is very different today. With the emergence of contactless payment and paying with your mobile phone, criminals have devised smart ways to be able to plunder your account unnoticed. In this blog you will read all about RFID protection, how digital pickpocketing works, how we have incorporated RFID protection in our Greenwood Leather products and we will share four important tips for how to prevent digital pickpocketing.
HOW DOES DIGITAL PICKPOCKETING ACTUALLY WORK?
We obviously know a lot more about leather bags and accessories than about digital pickpocketing. And gladly so. Still we want to show you briefly how childishly simple it is for criminals to get to your money. You are at your most vulnerable when you keep your payment cards stored loosely in your jacket or pocket. Criminals can withdraw an amount from your account with a portable payment device just by standing close to you with it. In a busy metro, tram or bus this is a piece of cake. Although this involves relatively small amounts (for large amounts you have to enter your code), but it is still a waste of your hard earned pennies! Fortunately it is very simple to prevent all this misery. Keep your payment cards in an RFID wallet.
HOW DOES RFID PROTECTION WORK?
In virtually all your cards an RFID Chip is incorporated. This chip allows you to make a contactless payment. Super convenient. With the introduction of contactless payment, various bodies such as the consumer association and various banks already warned about a new phenomenon: digital pickpocketing.
Soon the first wallets and covers with aluminum foil around it appeared. Aluminum foil stops radiation and prevents contactless payment. Soon after the first metal cases with RFID protection were marketed. Not much later the first wallet with RFID protection was sold. The development of RFID protection has developed to the point that it can be incorporated in wallets by means of a foil. With the introduction of our brand in 2016, we decided as one of the brands to provide our full range of leather wallets with RFID protection.
RFID WALLET
Let's take a look at some facts about the RFID protection that we use:
- An ultra-thin foil film stops the radiation. This film has a thickness of 100 microns. 100 micro-meter is thin. Very thin. 12 times as thin as aluminum foil and 100 times as thin as printing paper!
- This film fully complies with the REACH standard.
- Specially developed for shielding electromagnetic waves. It screens all relevant frequencies with a range of 125 kHz LF to 13.56 MHz HF.
The foil is incorporated in an invisible way on the inside of our leather wallets. While nowadays a wallet comes equipped with RFID protection, our choice in 2016 to process RFID protection in all our leather wallets was quite advanced.
Apart from the fact that all our leather wallets are equipped with RFID protection, you can also easily recognize them in our web shop by the RFID logo. Also on the inside every RFID wallet is provided with the RFID logo.
OUR TIPS:
- Do you want to prevent criminals from taking money from your account unnoticed? Make sure you keep your payment card in an RFID wallet! Is there no RFID logo in your wallet or card holder? Then it is probably not equipped with RFID protection.
- Always block the view when entering your code. As soon as criminals get your code, they are able to access larger amounts digitally.
- Do you still have doubts about the safety of contactless payment? Then switch off contactless payment. This is often possible via the banking app on your phone.
- This is quite a rigorous measure. You can also lower the daily limit for debit card payments. In this way you limit the damage when they would get to you.
If you have any questions regarding one of Greenwood Leather RFID wallets don't hesitate to contact us, we'll be delighted to tell you more about our beautiful products.
