RFID Blocking in your Wallet?

[Mike Henderson]

For those of you who are interested in a Faraday bag, what are you afraid will be stolen from your credit card?

I searched the web and didn't find any reports of people getting scammed by someone scanning their card while it was in their pocket. I haven't researched the protocol used between a reader and a card, but I expect that the designers were well aware of the risk of cards being scanned and designed the protocol to protect against it.

Mike

[Alex Zeller]

The way RFID cards work is the reader sends a signal to the card to power the chip that then sends a code back. It's range limited. If you have just one card in your wallet and the reader was close enough I could see it working but with multiple cards, I figured all the cards would send information back to the reader. So I tried it at my local hardware store. I tried using to cards at once and the reader said "chip malfunction".

[Keegan Shields]

I think you are far more likely to have an employee take a photo of your CC (front and back) when you hand it to them to pay than any of this RFID nonsense.

My buddy makes leather goods including wallets. He uses good quality leather, runs the business with his wife and daughter, made in Texas - if you want a wallet that will last for the next 10 or 20 years.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GritMercantile

[Doug Rasmussen]

I'm in search for a new wallet now, and all the ads I get for wallets brag about how they have RFID blocking. I haven't yet decided which wallet to get, but my favorites are Von Baer, Bosca, and Ekster. The Von Baer one looks like the most luxurious one. They make sure that every detail is perfect which is why they're number 1 for me. Bosca wallets have these cool hand-stitched details with a classic design. Ekster wallets feature a card-slider mechanism which should let you get to your cards easier. This might be a gimmick, but it would be cool to try it.

[Frederick Skelly]

I'm in search for a new wallet now, and all the ads I get for wallets brag about how they have RFID blocking. I haven't yet decided which wallet to get, but my favorites are Von Baer, Bosca, and Ekster. The Von Baer one looks like the most luxurious one. They make sure that every detail is perfect which is why they're number 1 for me. Bosca wallets have these cool hand-stitched details with a classic design. Ekster wallets feature a card-slider mechanism which should let you get to your cards easier. This might be a gimmick, but it would be cool to try it.

Thank you!

[Roger Feeley]

There’s a big difference between rfid and NFC which is what’s in your wallet. Both use the same underlying idea. A powered device (the initiator) transmits some sort of challenge to your card (the target). Your card receives just enough power in that challenge to transmit its response.

RFID is fairly long range. I have an Easy Pass in my car to pay tolls up and down the eastern seaboard. It’s used by stores to thwart shoplifters.

NFC runs on a different frequency than RFID. It’s range is very limited, maybe 6”. The most common use these days is credit cards but there are all sorts of neat applications. You can move a lot of data if you want to. You just do it 16 bytes at a time. I proposed to a friend at harming that they partner with the state and national parks. You tap a spot on a map and the trail route is downloaded to your gps.

Im not too worried about someone getting my card, true, they could transmit a challenge from far away but they would need to be close to receive a response.

[Jim Koepke]

My vehicle comes with a fob that locks/unlocks the doors and must be present to start the vehicle.
My paranoia led me to purchase a "Faraday cage" holder. With the fob inside the holder it could still work the locks and other functions. Seemed like a bum deal to me.

jtk

Since this thread has been rejuvenated I've learned a little.

The "Faraday cage" holder came without instructions. There is a pocket on the top of the pouch that when opened appears to be where one would hold the fob. There is what is almost a secret compartment that wasn't found until much later when trying to decide what to do with this thing.

Now it is used all the time to hold my vehicle's fob.

jtk

[John Lifer]

Since this thread has been rejuvenated I've learned a little.

The "Faraday cage" holder came without instructions. There is a pocket on the top of the pouch that when opened appears to be where one would hold the fob. There is what is almost a secret compartment that wasn't found until much later when trying to decide what to do with this thing.

Now it is used all the time to hold my vehicle's fob.

jtk

WHY? No One can scan and duplicate the fob without access to your car. just can't be done.
And if you guys with CCs read your provider's info, you all have a way to LOCK and UNLOCK your CC with a smartphone. I've had my CC info scammed a while back for the 2nd time and I cut them on and off when I want to use them... 20 seconds. And nothing can go through while locked except what you already have approved (reoccuring like power bill)

[Lee Schierer]

I purchased some credit card sized RFID shields from Amazon that seem to work. If I hold one between my card and the store scanner, the scanner will not read the credit card. The idea is to place them on each side of your cards so they can't be scanned.