A theft case using touchless transaction

A man got stolen money on a train, but nothing was stolen physically. Actually, his bank card was illegally skimmed using touchless transaction.

International Business Times: Virtual pickpockets steal money from contactless bank cards by bumping into victims claims Londoner

This incident occurred in London. Since the victim was a manager of a magazine publisher, the case was soon published in detail.

Some modern bank cards adopt contactless payment system for the minor transaction. With this card, you need not input the PIN code when the amount of payment is less than 30 GBP. Similar systems are available also in Japan. The thief abused this characteristic. He or she might close the transaction device to the bank card to read its information through the wallet.

This kind of crimes had not been reported so far, but it seems quite similar to the cases of fabricated passports. The way of skimming is not difficult, perhaps. However, you can steal only 30 GBP for an act. It seems not cost-effective for a crime. It may be a reason such cases are rarely reported.

You can protect your card easily using a sheet of foil covering the card. Passport cases against skimming are widely available. To begin with, you should be more cautious not to get stolen your wallet directly than get the data hacked.

I am not anxious to this type of theft at this time. Even if I, unfortunately, encounter an incident, the card companies will compensate for the loss. Convenience always coincides to the risk.