I traveled all over the Gulf Coast working for 34 years and never gave any thought to or worried about ID theft until approximately 3 weeks ago. Fortunately, there was no foul-play involved and we were alert enough to immediately catch the issue and take measures to prevent future credit card and/or ID theft.
The story – My wife and I were at a local doctor’s office and were finishing up the office visit with the co-pay at the front counter. As the office manager typed in the charges for the credit card machine before we had presented her with a credit card, the machine started completing the transaction. We all immediately realized what was happening and the manager quickly cancelled the transaction. After some serious and quick investigating we determined my wife was three to four feet away from the card reader while where I was standing my billfold was approximately 12–15 inches from the credit card machine on the opposite side of the counter partition. We determined it was reading my cards in my billfold – scary! This hadn’t happened prior to today to our knowledge – and now it won’t happen again.
Once home I started researching RFID and NFC (Radio Frequency IDentification and Near Field Communication) to learn how to block readers from obtaining our credit card and other info. I learned that some RFID readers can collect RFID information from up to three feet (1 meter) away. Some more intelligent and sophisticated hackers can collect information from up to ten feet (3 meters) away, meaning you could be in a store, mall, shopping center, etc. just walking around shopping and have your information read and stolen by someone passing close by.
As a rule, I don’t usually recommend products because if they don’t work for you, I don’t want to be blamed. However, after reading numerous articles on RF Blocking wallets, sleeves, and cards, I decided we needed RFID and NFC blocking cards due to their versatility over the wallets and sleeves. The cards are credit card sized and are used to sandwich your credit cards in your wallet, billfold or purse. After several hours of reading research and videos, I chose the Slimliang RFID & NFC Blocking Card (see photo). It came highly recommend by several high-tech engineers. They have two options, white or gold writing. I chose the gold and ordered a set of four cards from Amazon for $8.50 plus local tax and got it to our door for less than $10 total in two days.
It works by creating an active electronic field surrounding the card using an embedded microchip which makes your credit cards invisible to all 13.56 MHz credit card machines. I now carry two cards in my billfold in the folding money section, allowing the blocking cards to sandwich my credit cards, ID cards, and licenses when closed and in my back pocket as suggested. My wife keeps two in her purse in the same configuration.
Testing – Testing was fun. Every store I’ve been to the last week (and I visited stores I’ve never shopped before just for fun) has been a testing ground for the blocking cards. For the record, I asked the store employees if it’s alright to check the blocking card on the store card readers. Everyone was curious and happily complied with my request; the RF blocking card blocked every attempt when tested. I even managed to lock up one reader at a nearby neighborhood store. I also tested the blocking cards using my cell phone by downloading “NFC TOOLS” from the Google Play Store and followed the directions. I turned my mobile device’s NFC scanning capabilities to “On” and scanned my credit cards and wallet without the blocking card and then with it to determine if it’s working. If the blocking card is working it will block or scramble the data from being read. The blocking cards passed these tests also.
When testing with actual card readers in the stores and using the NFC TOOLS app, I checked each card machine with the blocking card and without. Our testing showed it doesn’t matter if the credit card chip is on top or bottom of the blocking card – just being with the credit card no information was exchanged.
The Results of Testing RFID Blocking Cards
I tested this card all over and it passed every time. It’s always on guard and protecting my credit card information. My credit cards can only be read when they are removed from my billfold and away from the RF Blocking cards. Its credit card size, works without a battery, and protects against both RFID & NFC signals. The orientation of the blocking card doesn’t matter. They are not expensive.
Fun fact – While researching I realized that the RF signal from the credit card scanner is energizing the embedded blocking chip. What’s comical to me, is by working properly, the card scanner is actually causing the blockage of data it’s seeking.
I think the next test for fun is to see if my phone will detect and/or interrogate our dog’s ID chips and will the card block it.
Jim Jones – KC5DOV
