RFID Chip sleeves

Not necessarily a "cruise" question. More of a request for opinions that is "Travel" related.

Those sleeves that you can now buy to put your credit cards, passports, and anything else that has an RFID chip embedded to protect you from having information stolen by bad people with RFID scanners.

To those who travel a lot,,, are these a Best Practice, or are they more of a marketing scare tactic?

My GOES card came to me with an RFID protection sleeve.

Your thoughts.

Personally whether you travel or not RFID cards that are not in a protective sleeve are vulnerable to being scanned and cloned without the card ever having been stolen. Have you seen all the news shows such as Dateline and 20/20 about this growing crime?

My sister received notification from her credit card company that there were suspicious charges on her card that were made out of state yet she was not on vacation , had not left the state that she resides nor had she used her card for a couple weeks . The crooks got her information with a scanner that can be purchased on line and all they had to do was walk past her when she was carrying her purse.

Since than I use the RFID sleeves for all cards with RFID chip including my passport.

I think it is scare mongering and don't worry about it, don't know how anyone knows that their card was stolen with an rfid scanner or more mundane methods. I am protected against any fraudulent debit or credit card charges. Consumer Reports found a few years ago that the protective sleeves did not all do what they said they would and I don't need a thicker, heavier wallet.

The rfid chip in passports contains no personal information but provides a code number which customs and immigration and other government entities can use to access information in their computers.

These sleeves are cheap enough to buy or could use tin foil.

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If you search YouTube, there are many tutorials on making your own with cardboard, foil, aluminum tape (not duct tape) and more.

I was pricing the wallets a while back, and some are quite pricey, so I investigated making my own. Never followed through, tho. Agree it may be scare mongering, but hey, if it's a little free protection and you don't mind spending crafty time, why not.

I remember a few showing their testing, and they were as effective as store bought types.

I think it is scare mongering and don't worry about it, don't know how anyone knows that their card was stolen with an rfid scanner or more mundane methods. I am protected against any fraudulent debit or credit card charges. Consumer Reports found a few years ago that the protective sleeves did not all do what they said they would and I don't need a thicker, heavier wallet.

 

The rfid chip in passports contains no personal information but provides a code number which customs and immigration and other government entities can use to access information in their computers.

I believe this summarizes - credit card issuers protect you against unauthorized usage and debit cards cannot be accessed without PIN. I think the hype is largely scare mongering.

I'm firmly in the "it's scaremongering" camp. Current chip technology standards for credit cards have a 4 inch or the older, but still used, 18 inch maximum scanning distance. Not the 25 feet claimed in the TV reports. Also, the data that could be collected (if the skimmer was literally right on top of you and you somehow did not notice) does not include enough information to completely clone the card. Lastly, all you need to do is carry two or more such cards in your wallet and no skimmer could ever sort the jumbled data stream to know which bits came from which cards.

Think about it, many countries use the proximity pay points and have done so for years. People pull their card out and either tap it or wave it over the paypoint, put the card back in their wallet and the transaction is complete. But they don't have to worry about the other cards in their wallet accidentally being charged for the transaction. They simply cannot be read while inside the wallet or purse that is sitting on the counter or held in the other hand.

If you are still fretful, then using a tinfoil wrap, or card-sized pieces sandwiched in your wallet is just as effective as the expensive 'protective' wallets. But those TV news exposés have been shown to be incomplete and inaccurate. And the supposed 'researchers' have been shown to have ties to for-profit 'security' firms that sell devices to block the RFID signals.

I, also, am in the scaremongering camp. I am comfortable enough with my bank or credit card company to protect my interests. On occasion I get an email from my cc company wanting my verification of some purchases made that weren't among those businesses that I usually do business with.

Scaremongering. Easiest thing is don't get any proximity cards. Just get the chip card that you insert.

Cloning a CC chip is virtually impossible.

US passports have an rf shield embedded in the cover.

We have had our CC card numbers used far away from where we live. Crooks get them from skimmers at gas stations...even ATM machines. Often the numbers lie dormant for months....until the crook sells those numbers to someone wanting to use them. then they may be used in a foreign country or to buy online things.

The chipped cards could help a lot, but US banks aren't interested in a truly secure system. They view bogus CC losses as a cost of doing business.

I bought a package of the sleeves on Amazon after a co-worker said that he had been alerted by a security guard in a store that someone was trying to scan him for chip cards. I figure they were inexpensive enough. The hassle of dealing with credit card fraud is something I don't really want to deal with. I've had to do it twice already--once when I think it was the desk clerk at a small hotel in Fort Lauderdale and a second time when my mother's credit card was being used fraudulently in the Atlanta area, possibly from the Target breach.

if it makes you feel good

I bought some b4 my recent EU trip

got a package with 2 passport and 10 (?) credit card ones for $10

was it worth it?

I dunno but they are CHEAP . . .

The crooks got her information with a scanner that can be purchased on line and all they had to do was walk past her when she was carrying her purse.

I'm curious how they know that. CC numbers can be obtained in many easier ways.

Only if you have a credit card that can pay wirelessly. It has to specifically have a RFID transmitter. These credit cards are heavily marketed as a card that pays wirelessly - so it is unlikely your credit card company would just send you one and not mention that feature. Also it almost always has a logo on it indicating it's ability and usually these cards are password protected. So even if someone gets your card number, they can't use it unless they know your password.

It's not scarmongering........but it doesn't apply to all credit cards with a chip (whether with a PIN or not). It only applies to those that have near-field or RFID capability, those with the little symbol that says you can wave the card near (or touch it to) a receiver. I don't think those are too popular in the US, but they are very common elsewhere.

If you see this symbol on your card, you should use a blocking sleeve:

When I got my Nexus card from US Homeland Security, it came with its own sleeve. I figure if DHS thinks it's important enough, it's not just a ploy to sell them. Besides, you can get them on eBay for less than a buck each

What's the real risk with a 10-20 cm range? As there is no real advantage to the consumer for this technology and a real downside, why even buy into it?

Maybe things are different in Aus. Have had charges appear on our credit card statement that are not ours. Were skimmers at play? The bank reimbursed all! Given that, we were in Barcelona and Europe last year. Reading CC and Trip advisor we were aware of Pickpockets and credit card skimming. We bought an "anti skimming, pickpocket proof" wallet for DH to wear. Can't remember the name of the brand off hand (have lent it to friends at present in Barcelona). It was very light, had a clip to attach to a belt buckle on his pants and had a skim proof lining. It cost me about $50.00 AUD. DH wore it throughout Europe with no problems at all. I believe for peace of mind it was all worth it. It's all subjective. Worry about being skimmed, pick pocketed or pay a relatively small amount of money and have peace of mind and not worry and have a trouble free holiday. Hope this helps.

The original RFID credit and debit cards were quite easy to clone. The newer ones work differently and do not transmit the account number information but use a random token system - the payment system works it all out. Once a token is used it cannot be reused.

We have a lot of RFID readers in our office and none of them could get my account details off either of my cards.

We use the sleeves

Our Canadian CC have the WAVE or quick pay chip

maybe the US CC are not in jeopardy YET

My friend had her card skimmed while at the mall ..she never took her card from her purse but by the time she got home the CC security people were calling her

for the sake of a couple of $ it is worth it to me

as always it is a YMMV situation

Hi...i think many countries use the proximity pay points and have done so for years. People pull their card out and either tap it or wave it over the paypoint, put the card back in their wallet and the transaction is complete. But they don't have to worry about the other cards in their wallet accidentally being charged for the transaction.

We've never used them and after several decades of travel to over 40 countries and many more cities, we have never had an issue with our cards being skimmed. Not to say it can't happen. Just to say it hasn't in over 500 days of travel around the world.

With the protections credit card companies provide these days, I don't overly fret about the risks. If my card gets skimmed, I will not be held responsible for the charges if I report the card. My banks do a superior job of monitoring for fraudulent charges and will notify me even when I am not aware of charges.

I never used the sleeves but I have a small leather credit card case that provides RFID blocking. I s there a down side to using something of that sort? I like it is thin, small and neatly holds my cards that have chips. it provides fast a ccess when I want to use a card .

I never used the sleeves but I have a small leather credit card case that provides RFID blocking. I s there a down side to using something of that sort? I like it is thin, small and neatly holds my cards that have chips. it provides fast a ccess when I want to use a card .

Sounds nice and handy. Chip cards in the US have no relationship to an RFID system.

If you have a card that includes a ‘paywave’ feature, then RFID is in play.

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Like thinfool said almost no one in the USA has a card with a RFDI chip.

I bought a package of the sleeves on Amazon after a co-worker said that he had been alerted by a security guard in a store that someone was trying to scan him for chip cards. I figure they were inexpensive enough. The hassle of dealing with credit card fraud is something I don't really want to deal with. I've had to do it twice already--once when I think it was the desk clerk at a small hotel in Fort Lauderdale and a second time when my mother's credit card was being used fraudulently in the Atlanta area, possibly from the Target breach.

What hassle?

I get an alert, I call the company, tell them the charges are fraudulent, they send me a new card.

And now, they can keep your card active for transactions that have the card present, but not usable for online.

I have had cards hacked about 6 times. Most recently last week.

Yes, it takes a few minutes, but not really a "hassle." And a fact of today's life.

And both of yours had nothing to do with RFID chips scanning.