feysul

I am wondering what everyones opinion is on the RFID wallets and sleeves that i see all time.

DO i really need the protection?

As anyone ever experienced someone poaching their info from their cards?

I am going to Spain and Belgium soon and was wondering if i really need this??

Rebel54

We have an issue here in Hawaii with skimmers. I have all my cards in RFID sleeves that fit right in my wallet. For a couple bucks on amazon, I got enough for my cards, my husbands and our passports. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

fwoomp

Check your credit cards first to determine whether any of them even have RFID chips. (NOT the gold EMV ones being added to cards. Look for a wifi symbol and/or a reference to "contactless payment.")

You may well find that none of your cards have RFID chips. No chips, no skimming possible with an RFID reader. No skimming, no need for a special wallet.

tcook052

I use them on all CC's and passport home & travelling as CC and debit cards here all have not only the chip but the Interac Flash which you wave in front of a merchant sensor for smaller purchases under $100.00. I'd rather try and drop what may already be a slim chance of skimming even lower as I've found using the sleeves not an inconvenience.

Calliopeflyer

It seems like such an easy and inexpensive (and low-profile) solution, that I recommend them to everyone......RFID blocking sleeves are inexpensive and easy to find. RFID enabled cards are very common in Canada, and I don't feel the need to wait until I've had data robbed to use them. The sleeves are less than a buck each if you buy some on eBay.

When I got my Nexus card from US Homeland Security, it came with it's own RFID blocking sleeve. If DHS thinks they're important, that's good enough for me

MADPhil

GE cards come in the sleeves too.

docbert

OK, Passport first. No. You don't.

Basically all new passports how have built-in RFID, but the data they transmit is encrypted. The encryption key is make up of details contained on the photo page of your passport (PP number, date of birth, date of PP expiry), so even if someone can scan your passport they can't use the details unless they also have those details.

Credit Cards. It depends, but probably not...

Firstly, if you have more than one contactless card, simply put them together in your wallet. The odds of being able to skim one of them without the other interfering with the signal is basically zero, which makes it impossible to skim them.

If you only have a single card, then it depends on what that card implements. There's 2 types of contactless protocols - MSD and EMV.

MSD - Magnetic Strip Data - gives similar information to what's on the magnetic strip, which includes the credit card number. Obviously being able to skim this data gives you something that can be re-used, as it's basically just static data, and data that can be used without the physical card.

EMV - which stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa - is basically the same as the smartcard chip on the card. When EMV is used, the actual credit card number isn't transmitted, but instead it's a one-time conversation with the reader. Being able to access this data via a skimmer is basically worthless.

The problem is that there's no easy way to tell if a card supports only MSD, only EMV, or both. If your card supports MSD (with or without EMV) then you are potentially at risk of being skimmed. Historically most/all US issued cards that supported contactless were simply providing MSD, whilst in other countries it varied.

Calliopeflyer

I guess if you want to carry your credit cards around like a deck of cards, that would make sense - but it seems awfully awkward to me. Just like wrapping your cards in aluminum foil - it will work, but it's not a fun way to use your wallet and do you want to be "that" guy with a tin-foil hat on his credit cards?

Pup7

Having been electronically robbed once (and overdrafted in the process), yes, I'd be the tin-foil hat card chick.

Calliopeflyer

But for so little money, you can get a sturdier, less nerdy-looking RFID blocking sleeve.

MAN Pax

Why would any want contactless payments on a Debit Card? Not having the technology is safest.

Money stolen from Debit Card - you need to get it bacj from the bank
Money stolen from Credit Card - bank is out of luck

DinaP

Ya..I think you need it. Protecting the important stuff and documents that you have is really necessary. So a sleeve or wallet for your passport, cards and other stuff is required.

ChangingNappies

If the skimmer uses a portable terminal he can just the same way as if he was a waiter in a restaurant, can't he?

Yoshi212

Both my wallet and passport case are RFID blocking. They're a matching set that hold all my cards and more. Besides my passport the only card that I carry that has RFID is my Nexus card which I keep in the sleeve as an additional layer of protection. I've had identity theft twice, live in NYC and travel often enough where I just don't need the hassle.

I learned my wallet was RFID blocking when I was working at a client's office which does all access to restricted areas via RFID tags and I couldn't just tap my back pocket to the sensor to open a door while carrying boxes of samples.

slawecki

if i pile all 5 of my cards on top of each other, how does a skimmer sort and or read a single card?