You don't have to be paranoid

The latest idea to allow you to pay your smaller bills using a mobile phone does not fill me with great confidence.  The number of mobile phones stolen each year could mean that a thief could withdraw quite a lot of money, even though it will be in small amounts for each transaction, without any risk.

Contactless or 'pay by wave' credit and debit cards did seem to be a good idea but I recently heard that thieves with hand held scanners were testing them in crowded areas to see if they could identify people carrying them.  They would then simply use the scanner to make a transaction or steal the card and use it a number of times before reaching a payment limit or the card being deactivated.  It is hard enough to get the banks to deal with phantom cash machine withdrawals let alone phantom contactless payments.

My wife thinks I am becoming paranoid when I purchased a new wallet which has a stainless steel thread covering the outside.  It effectively shields any cards in my wallet from scanners.  It however does afford some protection and particularly in crowded tubes or the upcoming games.

I know the maximum amount that can be withdrawn is supposed to be £25 but the time and hassle in getting this refunded and a new card issued makes me wonder if it is worth the risks.

There was a similar situation when the first passports were issue with an embedded chip and were waved at a scanner.  I haven’t heard of any major problems with those.

It could be that I am overly concerned and it may not be a risk at all, but my gut feel is that the thieves are getting cleverer by the day and this is too much of an easy way to make money that they will simply not be able to ignore.