How to protect credit cards from smart thieves who do not physically touch or steal the cards?

On 20161126, the paternal grandfather of Little Prince and Little Princess sent us a video of how a cyber-security expert pretended asking for an innocent question (e.g. is there a Macy in this mall) while waving his tablet pouch (but there were RFID card readers inside the pouch!) Thankfully, he was not a digital pickpocket.

To protect our credit cards:

1. Be a minimalist, have no or minimal numbers of credit cards.
2. Keep our credit cards as we would for cash or checks.
3. To protect our credit cards from RFID skimmers, wrap them in “anti-static bag”  or aluminium foil (often referred to with the misnomer tin foil) especially if we frequently visit public areas, train stations, crowded malls, etc.  Note that aluminum foil does not block RFID but does seriously inhibit it.
4. Keep our credit cards in the innermost compartment of our handbag, in a wallet.
5. Put 2/more cards with RFID chips together to confuse RFID readers.
6. Do not send our credit card numbers through email.
7. Do not give give out our credit card numbers on the phone, unless we initiate the call.
8. Ensure online transactions are secured with encryption to protect our account information (look for secure transaction symbols such as a lock symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the web browser, or “https://…” in the address bar of the website. Log off from any website after a purchase transaction is made with our credit or debit card.
9. Securely keep or shred transaction receipts.
10. Check our accounts regularly for unauthorized charges.

Tags: ask, creativity, finance, happygreenpanda, money, prevent, protect, read, safe