Contactless credit card secrets

Let’s take look at a modern credit card and the nifty electronics it contains. Modern credit cards contains a micro-controller that is connected to the credit card chip contacts and on cards with wireless payment also to an antenna coil inside the card. On the surface the chip inside a card is a typical micro controller, but as one looks closer all sorts of security features become apparent.
Here are some videos on credit cards and other cards technology – both contact and contact-less cards. Learn how your contactless bank card works,

Credit Card Teardown: Secure Computing

CONTACTLESS TRANSIT CARD TEARDOWN (single-use transit card which allowed the user to “tap in” to board a bus)

There are credit card stay safe devices marketed. Simplest are wallets that have metal in them that stops RFID signals and then there are different kind of RF signal blockers. Here are nowadays RFID Card Blocking device that you can put wallet to protect anyone nearby (with suitable hardware) to read your card so you don’t have to go out and buy a new RFID blocking wallet or purse. Just one RFID blocking card will protect two bank cards, on either side of it. The idea in them is to block unwanted RFID reader activity with RFID card blocker protection to prevent credit card fraud.

An active RFID jammer card works by detecting an incoming signal and then throwing up a scrambling signal like a porcupine. From my research there are differences how well jammers work – some work well and some not that well

Credit card size Anti RFID hacking RFID blocker protects the data on your debit cards and credit cards tap-and-go contactless payments cards from being stolen by digital pickpockets. Here is videos on testing RFID Card Blocking device for any wallet.

Watch RFID Jammer vs RFID blocker

Testing RFID BLOCKING Card – Does it Work??

EEVblog #889 – Credit Card RFID/NFC Theft Protection Tested

EEVblog #890 – ArmourCard Active RFID Jamming Teardown

Want even more information what’s inside the ArmourCard active RFID jammer for NFC contactless credit cards? Does it work? Will it protect you from skimming?

So visit forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-890-armourcard-active-rfid-jamming-teardown/
Patent: https://www.google.com/patents/WO2014085862A1
Lithium Battery: http://www.gmbattery.com/dl/cp4/CP/CP142828.pdf

5 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Inside a Glasgow Subway RFID train ticket
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm4CSrH8WTU

    The first time I got one of these tickets it took me by surprise. I was used to the magnetic stripe tickets when they switched to a paper ticket with RFID circuitry inside.

    The Glasgow Subway is the third oldest underground railway in the world, and is completely underground for its whole route. It’s a very simple system with two continuous tracks, an inner and outer circle. If you miss your stop you can either get off at the next station and get the first train back, or just go right round the whole loop again. It takes about 20 minutes.
    It’s a single fare system whether you’re going a single stop or to the furthest station.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Can I pick this RFID Lock electrically from a distance?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXuWnwSYC5Y

    In this video I will try to pick an RFID lock electrically. Will I succeed or fail? We will find out. Along the way we will learn tons about 125kHz RFID locking systems and how “secure” they are. Reading and writing to RFID tags will of course also be a part of that. So let’s get started!

    Thanks to Morning Brew for sponsoring this video.

    0:00 RFID Door Locking System Overview
    1:17 Intro
    2:12 How I built the Locking System
    4:03 RFID Theory
    5:54 Amazon RFID Writer/Reader
    6:46 Amp Mod (Increase Reading Distance)
    8:40 Coil Mod (Increase Reading Distance)
    10:41 Verdict

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElectronicParts/permalink/2185369138319076/

    The Sonicare electric toothbrushes have a NFC chip in the brush that triggers a replace brush light after a certain number of uses. So now they’re trying to force the user to buy another brush! And it’s hard to defeat and is password protected. This is just like the incandescent lights that were *made* to last only 1000 hours!

    What bothers me is that the chip turns the brush into e-waste.

    HACKING A “SMART” ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH TO RESET ITS USAGE COUNTER
    https://hackaday.com/2023/05/27/hacking-a-smart-electric-toothbrush-to-reset-its-usage-counter/

    Reply

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