Credit card copied in a Brazilian supermarket

12/09/22 @Kurterino.  Sorry that it happened to you.   Thanks for the warning.

Better to use your phone to pay because when you pay with your phone it changes the credit card number every time.

@jasonlovesdogs

i have mostly been using the wireless payment feature, it turns out this technology can also  be used to extract data and clone a card wirelessly (https://www.mybanktracker.com/news/chip … ss-thieves).

i doubt that one of the readers in the checkout aisle of a supermarket was rigged to copy CC data, but I haven’t used the cars anywhere else except at 3 local supermarkets. So maybe either an employee or another customer could have used a device to get the necessary data wirelessly?

Are you saying that the generating of a different number each time happens if I use a credit card with Apple Pay (or the Android equivalent, if there’s one)?

Buy one of those metal or aluminum wallets to store your card.  Your cards might bear the chip with your info in it.  The metal acts as a shield and prevents data thieves from snooping in on your plastic. 

12/09/22 We use RFID blocking sleeves for each of our credit cards to keep them from being scanned.  Note, if you're using these, your wallet definitely needs to go out of your pocket and into your carry-on to go through airport security -- it goes crazy otherwise.

I keep a second account just for use in shops that is topped up from my main bank using their app. I can change the PIN on the second account in a less than a minute if I think something dodgy happened - Card going out of sight or whatever.

chose a bright orange card so it's really easy to keep an eye on.

The balance is kept low, but I can top it up using my main account in a flash.

If something like that is available to you, it's quick, easy, and far safer as, even if they do manage to skim you, they can only steal a very small amount.

This is why l never use a debit card. Only a credit card. If they are able to use it, it’s not my money.

It has happened to me a couple of times. I just reported the fraud to Citibank and they took care of it. Using a signal blocking sleeve or wallet is a must anyway these days.

On another note. There is a scam going on here in the  US with cars that have remote start on the key fob. All the criminals do is wait for you to unlock your car and they steal the code. With that they can access your fob remotely. Not only to unlock your car but drive it away. It just happened here in my apartment complex. They now recommend storing your fob in a signal blocking box. 

@Kurterino Yes. This is the safest method. You can research it online. It's nearly impossible with Apple pay or Google pay to clone because when you pay it uses a proxy credit card number. I always use it. The only time I've ever had a problem is when I used my physical credit card.

@jasonlovesdogs

Thank you , I did some reading, and it’s apparently safer than using the credit card. I’m not 100% sure if that applies to the contactless credit cards as well , but it’s certainly better than swiping your card.