Zunardo
Well-known member
My whippersnapper son was advising me recently to get a Faraday wallet the metallic mesh to protect me from people with portable data skimmers who could download my driver's license and credit card numbers, and ruin my life.
I suspect he wonders in my feebleness how I make it through the day.
But I do appreciate him looking out for the old man and updating me on what's going on in the world. So I wondered:
- How much of this is fact, and how much an urban legend?
- If fact, what exactly are the skimmers reading? The chip? Or the magnetic stripe?
- is the data easily read by a layman? Or is it encrypted and you need a second device for that?
- Do these wallets work as advertised?
- How easy would it be to obtain such a skimmer? Black market?
Saw an NCIS episode where this young chick is walking thru a busy street, holding some device up to people's butts or purses when they walked by, and supposedly she could create duplicate credit cards and commit major theft. Have read various takes on the subject, and none of them really agree on how much of a threat these portable skimmers are, or even how effective the Faraday wallets are.
Along that line, have also read that someone can be outside your house, somehow read the data on your car key fob, duplicate the info, then unlock and start your car and abscond with it. Truth, fiction, or somewhere in-between?
I suspect he wonders in my feebleness how I make it through the day.
But I do appreciate him looking out for the old man and updating me on what's going on in the world. So I wondered:- How much of this is fact, and how much an urban legend?
- If fact, what exactly are the skimmers reading? The chip? Or the magnetic stripe?
- is the data easily read by a layman? Or is it encrypted and you need a second device for that?
- Do these wallets work as advertised?
- How easy would it be to obtain such a skimmer? Black market?
Saw an NCIS episode where this young chick is walking thru a busy street, holding some device up to people's butts or purses when they walked by, and supposedly she could create duplicate credit cards and commit major theft. Have read various takes on the subject, and none of them really agree on how much of a threat these portable skimmers are, or even how effective the Faraday wallets are.
Along that line, have also read that someone can be outside your house, somehow read the data on your car key fob, duplicate the info, then unlock and start your car and abscond with it. Truth, fiction, or somewhere in-between?