GUEST BLOGGER - Travel Professional Ricki Subel Discusses The Importance of RFID Security
Ever had a credit card? Chances are you or someone you know has been the victim of fraud or identity theft. I’ve worked in the Travel Goods industry for over two and half years and had lived overseas in Argentina and France for a total of four years before that.
During that time, I learned about the power and importance of RFID blocking, just like many of the customers with horror stories who come to our retail locations looking for product that will block RFID pickpocketing (the process by which a thief can use a scanner to capture the information from your cards in a split second).
What I realized when I came back to the United States was that most of the cards still had the RFID technology, or radio-frequency identification, that was much less prevalent in Europe.
Europe’s widespread use of the Chip-and-PIN card technology mitigated, but definitely doesn’t eliminate, the risk that led to personal information being lifted from a card and consequently used to make fraudulent purchases.
When you’re a tourist in another country, you don’t necessarily think about the vulnerability of your identity. The issue of online purchases made using card numbers and other personal information to create a fraudulent persona is a new issue for many travelers. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a Thomas Cook to exchange money. Everything I have done and do when I travel is on my card.
Thankfully, banks have caught on to the need for more security surrounding these issues and I was pleasantly surprised to have a phone number I could call toll free from overseas to report suspicious activity on my account.
The problem was, being without my smartphone, they could not contact me. In order to avoid the possibility of a more serious oversight on my behalf whilst traveling in the future, because let’s face it, vacation is not the time you want to be dealing with these issues, I decided to go all out with my RFID blocking arsenal of travel-specific and everyday-use products.
It only took one bad experience for my perspective to shift on prevention. I started with a simple RFID blocking sleeve for my passport and then I looked at how I could incorporate the technology into more of my everyday items.
I popped an RFID blocking purse organizer into my handbag and switched it out each time I changed my bag, so there was no need to worry about losing protection when on the go.
The biggest surprise came about one year later when I realized that the same Radiation Blocking Material in my SafeSleeve that protects me from EMR emissions was also blocking criminals from lifting my identity.
SafeSleeve Cell Phone Cases - RFID Wallet
The SafeSleeve cell phone case, my daily staple for credit cards and my diver’s license, already has this brilliant technology built into it. That means that even when I don’t feel like grabbing my purse insert, or I simply wanted to use a small clutch or nothing at all when I’m running a quick errand, traveling, or out on the town, I am protecting my identity in the grocery store, at the airport and at the shopping mall both in and out of the United States.
The realization that the product provides so many functions that protect me from the often overwhelming advances to technology gives me tremendous peace of mind, making my fast-paced lifestyle that much easier to manage.
It’s grab, go and you’re set, all thanks to one product that is useful in the prevention of many health and security issues we are unknowingly faced with today.
Ricki Subel
