How to Protect Yourself From Portable Point-of-Sale Scams
1 min read
Summary
With the increasing use of contactless payments, portable point-of-sale (POS) terminal fraud is rearing its head once again.
Portable POS terminals have been used in attempts to steal money from victims in a number of countries.
This involves stealing a wallet or purse and making a series of very quick contactless transactions, avoiding the need for a PIN and taking advantage of the 30-second wait for each transaction to be confirmed.
Alternatively, fraudsters may try to place a POS terminal near a crowd of people in order to pick up a transaction from a contactless payment card or smartphone.
The likelihood of success is low, but there are steps that consumers can take to protect themselves, such as RFID-blocking wallets, adjusting notification settings and ensuring smartphones are locked when they are not in use.
