My wife was scammed

January 09, 2020, 05:25 PM

specter77

My wife was scammed

My wife and I were entering a fast food restaurant and I held the door for a gentleman who was behind us. As we were looking at the menu we offered for him to go ahead and order as we were picking up for several people. He stated that it was a pleasure to encounter such nice and polite folks and to go ahead as he was also ordering for other than himself.

Just as my wife pulled out her debit card he stepped forward and offered to pay for our meal as well. After a brief conversation my wife replaced her card in her wallet (RFID protected) and he did pay for our order. Even while wearing USMC attire I have never had a person offer to pay for a meal so my wife and I were mystified. He was busy on his cell phone so as we left with our bags of food I thanked him again and he said something like “may god bless you.”

We had only been home long enough to wolf down the chow when USAA contacted us as to someone using my wife’s card number to pay a bill and several other charges. They were denied by USAA and they canceled her card (will reissue a new one). When my wife told USAA what had gone on at the restaurant they were not surprised, this is a scam where the scammer gets close (within 5 feet) of a persons debit card and scans it. Then they rack up charges. I normally stay close to my wife when she is paying and keep an eye out or stay back on overwatch position. This caught me unaware.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC (Ret)

January 09, 2020, 05:41 PM

mcrimm

I try to use Apple Pay with my Apple Watch whenever possible.

I love my Apple Watch.

January 09, 2020, 06:11 PM

12131

quote:
My wife was scammed

You were both scammed, not just your wife.

January 09, 2020, 06:27 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:

I try to use Apple Pay with my Apple Watch whenever possible.

I love my Apple Watch.

Absolutely! I have tried to explain the improved security to my wife, and to a good friend that I gifted with an Apple Watch (purchased from a member of SIGforum). Neither one of them wants to be bothered with it. Tune might change at the first scam.

January 09, 2020, 07:12 PM

midwest guy

Apple Pay and Apple Card as Vtail explains, is a superior form of payment. It has become my primary card .

January 09, 2020, 07:37 PM

radioman

was the card Visa PayWave or MasterCard PayPass?? Either of these can be read from some distance.

But the cards with only the EMV european style chip thing, not so much. The EMV cards don't even require an RFID shielding wallet

January 09, 2020, 08:01 PM

radioman

Thinking more about this --- what a strange scam. The guy had to pay for your dinner. Seems he could have just used his reader near purses or men's rear pockets to scan cards. I don't really see how paying for a dinner makes the scam any better for him.

Are we sure he wasn't just a nice guy, and there is a mere coincidence of the card being compromised by someone else?

January 09, 2020, 10:29 PM

SR025

Your card number could have been compromised months ago and now just finally used and this is just a coincidence.

January 09, 2020, 10:33 PM

bobtheelf

I'm in the "coincidence" camp. Does that card even have an RFID chip? Few do.

January 09, 2020, 10:56 PM

tatortodd

I had a RFID card when I lived in Can-eh-duh, but don't have any here. There is a difference between RFID card and the ordinary EMV Chip.

January 10, 2020, 12:20 AM

Aeteocles

My major credit cards started getting updated with the RFID chips last year.

January 10, 2020, 07:16 AM

SBrooks

So only the cards with that RFID symbol can get scanned by someone remotely ?

January 10, 2020, 08:03 AM

radioman

quote:
Originally posted by SBrooks:
So only the cards with that RFID symbol can get scanned by someone remotely ?

pretty much. more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contactless_payment

January 10, 2020, 09:26 AM

specter77

quote:
Originally posted by specter77:
My wife and I were entering a fast food restaurant and I held the door for a gentleman who was behind us. As we were looking at the menu we offered for him to go ahead and order as we were picking up for several people. He stated that it was a pleasure to encounter such nice and polite folks and to go ahead as he was also ordering for other than himself.

Just as my wife pulled out her debit card he stepped forward and offered to pay for our meal as well. After a brief conversation my wife replaced her card in her wallet (RFID protected) and he did pay for our order. Even while wearing USMC attire I have never had a person offer to pay for a meal so my wife and I were mystified. He was busy on his cell phone so as we left with our bags of food I thanked him again and he said something like “may god bless you.”

We had only been home long enough to wolf down the chow when USAA contacted us as to someone using my wife’s card number to pay a bill and several other charges. They were denied by USAA and they canceled her card (will reissue a new one). When my wife told USAA what had gone on at the restaurant they were not surprised, this is a scam where the scammer gets close (within 5 feet) of a persons debit card and scans it. Then they rack up charges. I normally stay close to my wife when she is paying and keep an eye out or stay back on overwatch position. This caught me unaware.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC (Ret)

Her Wallet is RFID not the USAA card which is a normal debit card.

As I understand it the scanner must be in close proximity to the card to work.

Yes it could be a coincidence however, USAA was aware of the tactic we were suspicious of including verbiage used.

Yup, both my wife and I were scammed.

My wife just got an apple watch. Will she use it for apple pay? Ya got me.

I prefer to pay in cash.

Michael

January 10, 2020, 08:58 PM

K0ZZZ

Weird, none of my USAA cards have the RFID chip so they don't work with wireless tap and pay or anything. I would not choose a card that had that feature.

But put me down as another one that loves paying with tapping the cell phone. I have even started going to a slightly worse grocery store because they support it and the better one doesn't.

January 11, 2020, 06:53 AM

Oz_Shadow

Must be a powerful scanner. Most pay stations barely pick the cards up right on them. I use Apple Pay when I can.

January 11, 2020, 07:17 AM

Georgeair

Could be aliens.
Or coincidence.

The chances of getting on phone with a rep who happens to be a technical expert are low. One that is agreeable and telling customers what they want to hear is high.

January 11, 2020, 08:08 AM

DaBigBR

So is this an RFID enabled card or not? If it's not, nobody "scanned" it and if it is, it is most likely will that nobody scanned it.

With all due respect to the people posting in here and USAA, the RFID thing is majorly overblown. It requires relatively close proximity and therefore risk. Modern RFID cards use a token-based encryption system, just like your chip does, that replaces the actual card number and are only valid for a very short time. Somebody did a proof of concept a few years ago proving you could highjack one of these cards, but you need to be able to execute the purchase basically immediately.

Overall, the technical know-how and expense to highjack RFID cards, coupled with the small scale, and high exposure make it something nobody's wasting their time with. Especially when you can drop skimmers on dozens of terminals, ATMs, etc. relatively benignly and pick up hundreds of cards.

This encounter is almost certainly a coincidence.