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Losing contact (with reality)

According to a number of press report, the Abu Dhabi police are warning local residents that money may be stolen from their bank balances through “electronic magnetisation” and "exploitation of contactless payment technology”. I’m pretty sure that I would be concerned about electronic magnetisation too (if I knew what it was) so I will take this warning to wary to heart the next time I visit. The magnitude of the problem must be such that there is general panic amongst the contactless crazy residents of the… oh, wait. It turns out that Colonel Amran Ahmed Al Mazrouei, Abu Dhabi’s director of criminal investigations, has said that "although such thefts were possible, none has so far been recorded in the emirate".

To the best of my knowledge, none have so far been recorded anywhere else either. When I went to look for evidence of criminal enterprise, I came across yet another alarming statement. According to The Paypers, fraudsters are now using ‘contactless skimming’ machines to read credit card information "right out of your pocket” and then use a merchant account (not sure what they mean by this) to make contactless payments. The article goes on to note that “in a 2013 study published by the University of Surrey, a team managed to ‘successfully receive contactless transmission from distances of 18 to 31 inches’ using a skimming device".

Wow.

That sounds amazing. I’m astonished that banks could be irresponsible to issue contactless card at all if they are so prone to fraud and they must withdraw them… oh, wait. It turns out that of you read to the end of this paper, you will see… "This work was funded by EPSRC and Consult Hyperion".

Ah.

Indeed it was. And it was a brilliant piece of work which included some innovative engineering. You’ll particularly like the bit about using a shopping trolley as an eavesdropping device. But if you read our Tomorrow’s Transactions blog about this in detail, you will find that “Just as when we did the original risk analysis on contactless in 2007, the conclusion is that contactless bank cards are fit for purpose”. Sorry to disappoint, but the sky isn’t falling in, no matter what the papers (or the Paypers) say!

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