09 May 2012

Keeping Your Money Safe


When we moved to our new city this summer, the local paper was all abuzz with a wave of identity theft crimes that all seemed to be originating from a local movie theatre.  The criminals were eventually caught, but the damage was still done to numerous people's bank account.  I heard from one source that a local sheriff had $7,000 stolen from him.  Can you imagine?!

It was discovered that the criminals had been using a high-tech scanner carried in their pockets.  The scanner was able to "read" the magnetic strips on the back of credit cards, even if they were inside of a leather or fabric wallet or purse.  All the criminal had to do was walk by you at a close-enough range.  This type of identify theft was news to me, and totally terrifying!

Last week over lunch, a colleague of mine introduced all of us to a genius {and cheap!} way to protect yourself: the aluma wallet.

Apparently, RFID readers cannot penetrate aluminum.  So when you close the aluma wallet, your credit cards {therefore, your information} can't be read by someone with an RFID reader.

I just ordered one for me {silver} and one for M {black}.  I realize these aren't quite as chic as, say, my vintage Gucci wallet.  But if $8 and free shipping buys a little peace of mind, I'll trade chic for functional any day!

3 comments:

Nat said...

Wow I have never heard of this- so scary!! How do people keep coming up with this kind of technology?! Thanks for the heads up on these- I might need to invest in some.

Portuguese Prepster said...

good lord! that's terrifying!

Unknown said...

Sarah,
This is brilliant! I might have to trade in my Louis!! :)

xoxo Elizabeth