I got an e-mail the other day from my friend Paul down in South Florida.  It seems that Paul had learned about a small chip that is being embedded in many new credit and debit cards that sends out a signal containing all of the cardholder’s account information for that card.

Known as an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), these new cards are marketed as a “convenience” for the card’s owner.  They allow you to simply hold your card close to a reader rather than having to go to all the effort and trouble of swiping the card through the card reader.

Unfortunately, that also means that a thief using a portable card reader that simply passes near to your card can capture your credit or debit card information, clone the card, and then use it to make purchases and steal your money.  If your card has the words “paypass”, “paywave”, or “blink” on it, it has an RFID chip in it.  You can also look for a symbol that looks something like this )))).  Regardless of which word appears on the card, thieves can obtain your account information and use your good name for their own bad purpose.

To protect your credit information, you can demand that your card issuer provide a card that does not have a chip in it.  You can also purchase a credit card sleeve or wallet that blocks the radio waves these chips send out; or, you can simply wrap your card in aluminum foil to shield it.

Want to learn more about RFID credit and debit cards and how to protect yourself?  Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLAFhTjsQHw&sns=em and watch the news report.