Today I saw a TV commercial touting the benefits of their anti-RFID wallet. They talked about how crooks can stand nearby and "skim" the data from all your RFID-enabled money cards and later use that to drain your accounts -- but bragged that the crooks wouldn't be able to do it if your cards were protected by their wallet.

OK...

Except, during the commercial they showed someone removing a card from the wallet, to put into an ATM. Well, obviously, *during* the time the card was in- between the wallet and the ATM, the data can be skimmed from the card! So, what good is the wallet, if crooks know when the data will be vulnerable?

Which is where this Idea comes into play. Imagine a curtain-like flexible metal-mesh screen (like fine jewelry chain) surrounding the place where your hands interact with the ATM (or other device where you want that device to read your money card).

You lift the mesh enough to put your whole wallet and your hands into the interaction zone. The mesh is loose enough and long enough to be tucked like cloth all around your wrists or fore-arms. And the holes in the mesh let you see what you are doing in the interaction zone (but the holes are too small for radio waves to get through to a money-card skimmer).

Inside the mesh-protected interaction zone, you *now* open your anti-RFID wallet and and remove and use your money card, and when done you put the card back into the wallet, before removing your hands and wallet from the interaction zone. The plans of any skimmer-equipped crooks have been nicely meshed-up.
-- Vernon, Oct 31 2013

I took the cunning shortcut of not having any money, so all attempts to steal my money by card skimming will fail.
-- not_morrison_rm, Oct 31 2013


Somehow, it seems like it would be easier to swipe my card or stick it in a smart card reader than having to deal with all that mesh and stuff
-- scad mientist, Nov 01 2013


Just to be safe, I never leave my home without my full- body wearable Faraday cage.
-- Alterother, Nov 01 2013


Just spray card with conductive paint.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 01 2013


Or only use cards which don't have RFID chips.
-- goldbb, Nov 02 2013



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