Secretly swiped: Your account numbers taken out of thin air

Cyber Theft - Photo by d70focus

The ABC7 I-Team reveals the mobile technology that hackers can use to steal credit and debit numbers from you while you’re in public. The cards at risk are enabled with radio technology that allows you to “wave and pay.”

It may be convenient, but there are also remote tools that thieves can use to steal information from those cards. The I-Team tested a device that can “secretly swipe” while you are standing in line to pay, on an escalator, or in a crowded spot.

“I would walk up to you and I might stand like this on the train, Ok and boom, I have your credit card,” said David Bryan.

Bryan, a security specialist at Chicago’s Trustwave, used a device in his backpack to read account numbers and expiration dates – all from cards which I think are safely tucked away in my wallet.

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