Identity Theft Fraud Prevention with Key Fobs

Faster, easier, & more convenient. That's
how marketers have promoted the no contact
required payment devices known as "key fobs".

Unfortunately, identity thieves also like those
same promotional benefits when devising ways to
steal using your credit card and bank funds.

Here's why:

A "key fob" is a small device approximately the
size of an individual cigarette, typically attached
to a consumer's keychain, which allows you to pay
for gas at the pump or even at the point of sale
(pos) terminal mostly in gas & convenience stores.

Your actual credit or bank account debit
card information is not stored on the key fob.
















This "key fob" is, however, electronically linked
to your credit card or bank account for payments
just by waving it over the pos scanner which then
activates a brief radio frequency connection required
to complete the purchase transaction.

So, if you happen to lose your keychain, containing
the "key fob", then anyone who finds your keys could
go shopping for gas and other items while paying for
the goods using your linked credit/bank
account funds.

Just think about it, are you more apt to lose your
wallet or misplace your keys - especially for those
who frequently travel through airport security
checks and/or utilize attendant parking?

Since identity thieves work using speed and deception,
they've been known in the past to utilize gas &
convenience stores as a primary vehicle to quickly
run up charges on unsuspecting consumers credit
cards.

With key fobs, however, the thief does not even
have to now go through the extra step of
actually stealing your credit information.
Fraud against your credit card or bank account
can be committed simply if you lose your keychain
or innocently hand it over to a parking lot attendant
who's dishonest.

So, our tip for today is to follow these simple
steps to prevent theft against your credit
identity:

• Resist the urge to use a "key fob" versus traditional cash
  or even a credit card requiring your signature.
• Avoid knowingly giving your key fob to parking lot
  attendants by adopting the use of a two part pull
  away key ring.
• If you happen to misplace or lose your key fob, contact
  your provider (Speedpass -or ExpressPay from
  American Express) immediately to cancel the account.

Endnote:

Tell a friend about us so they may also get their own
anonymous, free tips from identity theft secrets.