This post has nothing to do with quilting, food, or anything else I’ve ever written about here. Yesterday my credit card was hacked. Someone did some fun online shopping at what they hoped was my expense — to the tune of over $400. I’m lucky. I discovered it the same day when I checked my bank’s web site, quite by chance.
After some discussion with my bank, we’ve come to the conclusion that the most likely way that the perpetrator obtained my card number was by means of a scanner. These scanners, easily obtained for about $10 read the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips in many credit cards and all US Passports, giving up our personal information with no effort on the part of the thief and without any hint that we’re at risk.
As I said, I was lucky to discover the fraud almost immediately. Not everyone is as lucky. But I’m now awaiting the delivery of some special “sleeves” I’ve ordered to shield my credit cards and my passport from illicit scanners. You might want to explore your options, too.
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