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Depends on the card. All NFC cards in Sweden are just as dumb as a magnetic stripe cards. I actually believe all cards in Europe are but I could be wrong.

It's there, in plain text, any normal NFC-reader will get you everything (there even are android-apps that does it in the play-store).



I guess I'm getting downvoted because people just can't fathom how insecure it actually is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/technology/how-to-protect...

In Britain, where people have arguably embraced contactless cards to a greater extent than individuals in other countries, researchers have routinely been able to copy the financial details of some cards, including the 16-digit card number and expiration date, by merely passing their own N.F.C. reader close to a person’s wallet.

There have been numerous other demonstrations of this as well.

Another demonstration (site is in Swedish https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/uppsala/sa-kan-tjuven-skim... ).


> researchers have routinely been able to copy the financial details of some cards

I think this is the key. The implementation of each card may differ leading to inconsistent results.

As a general rule I suggest covering up the CVV or scratching it off if you're sure you have it somewhere safe. An option is to also erase the magnetic strip. It might lead to a less useful card (in cases where only magstrip would work) but definitely a more secure one. And for any NFC card an RFID shield sleeve does wonders.


Yes, this gets you the data that's printed on the front of the card.

You could also get this data by... seeing the card ?


Yes? And that is a common technique to do it. Hide a small camera behind the counter, make sure quickly hold a customers card in view of it and you are done.

NFC though has the advantage to be read from a distance, easily through a pocket and wallet (if the wallet doesn't have an rfid shield). Surely open up that attack vector isn't helping?

If you are paying attention you can detect someone trying to photograph your card (they shouldn't even be handling it in the first place). But through your pocket? Practically impossible to detect.

edit: The fact that we still print everything needed to make a purchase on the card itself isn't particularly flattering for our species.


>And that is a common technique to do it. Hide a small camera behind the counter, make sure quickly hold a customers card in view of it and you are done.

Nobody actually does this. Name+card#+cvv+expiry just isn’t worth the hassle, easier to get 1000s at a time via phishing or hacking web shops.

Stripe dumps are an entirely different market, with ATM pins increasing the value of a single dump up to 100x.


Yet people still get caught doing it? I'd say it is very much worth the hassle, hadn't it been for the high risk of getting caught.

I bet there is zero overlap between those that does it and those that have the slightest clue how to perform a phishing or web shop attack.


Oh, I can totally see why someone with zero understanding of how credit card fraud works would attempt and get caught doing this.

They simply wouldn't achieve anything. They wouldn't get enough cards to be able to sell them, nor would they be able to cash out this information.

I'm sure there is zero overlap between people doing this and people actually profiting from (or causing losses with) credit card fraud.

If they actually knew what to do with such information, they'd just be buying it for a couple of dollars a piece.


Those apps don't get you an authorization token, which is needed for a transaction.


What authorization token?

If you mean the CVV it isn't required to make a transaction.


>If you mean the CVV it isn't required to make a transaction.

that's incorrect. there's a cvv1 on the magstripe that's needed for magstripe transactions, and there's cvv2 that's on the back of the card that's mostly required (depends on merchant policy) for card not present transactions. for EMV transactions, you need a payment terminal because the card will refuse to communicate unless the other side has a valid certificate. even then, the card only returns a signed response, which you can't use elsewhere.


> that's incorrect.

No? You just said so yourself? "depends on merchant policy" Why would an attacker choose a merchant whose policy denies their use case?

Why would an attacker opt for a magstripe transaction or a contactless transaction?


>No? You just said so yourself? "depends on merchant policy" Why would an attacker choose a merchant whose policy denies their use case?

it's not as easy as you think. nearly all merchants require some sort of additional information (cvv, billing address, cardholder name) in addition to card number + expiration date. reason being, for card not present transactions (eg. online), the merchant is liable for fraud (the purchase amount + ~$25 chargeback fee), so they have a strong financial incentive to collect/verify as many pieces of information to reduce their losses. it would be insane to not collect any of those (only requiring card number + expiry date), because the chargebacks will bankrupt you. the reason i said "depends on merchant policy" is because some merchants (iirc amazon) don't collect cvv2 (but they do collect billing address + cardholder name), which I presume is for convenience/conversion rate reasons. I don't actually know of any merchants that only collects card number + expiry date.


Sure, forgot that name wasn't provided.

But name is the only additional information you need to make a legitimate purchase, and that information isn't a secret (if you, under any circumstance, ask for someones CVV they will tell you to fuck off. Ask for their name is another thing (maybe even present on a name tag or in many cases trivial in a certain context)). It will make it slightly harder to just randomly scan peoples pockets on the subway but still an absolute security nightmare.

Just disable NFC altogether, no reason not to.


>But name is the only additional information you need to make a legitimate purchase

where did you get the impression that there are merchants (worth stealing from) that only accepts card number + expiry + name? the example I gave was with amazon, and they take name AND address. even if you're able to find a merchant with lax security and is worth stealing from, how long can you keep the scam up for? maybe a week or two before the fraud reports start pouring in? then they'll patch up their systems and you're back to square one. you're better off installing skimmers and using the card numbers at any merchant that accepts credit (at least in the US).

>will make it slightly harder to just randomly scan peoples pockets on the subway but still an absolute security nightmare.

considering that you have to be pretty close for NFC to work, whoever is doing it is going to look pretty suspicious as he's bumping into everyone walking endlessly through the train.

>Just disable NFC altogether, no reason not to.

I can think of one: convenience. wave your card in front of the reader vs insert card, wait, type in, wait some more, then taking out your card.


Do amazon really even validate the address to the card owner? I've sent stuff to different locations in different names using the same card.

I've heard poker and gaming sites are popular to extract funds (and simultaneously launder them), don't expect them to have much security no.

> considering that you have to be pretty close for NFC to work, whoever is doing it is going to look pretty suspicious as he's bumping into everyone walking endlessly through the train.

Seriously? Just go during rush hour and you can basically stand still, the victims will practically bump into you for you. I don't expect anyone to attempt sprinting a carriage at a time...


>Do amazon really even validate the address to the card owner? I've sent stuff to different locations in different names using the same card.

For initial orders, yes. Amazon has a very advanced fraud detection system that builds up trust with your account over a while.

Amazon is very difficult to card.

>I've heard poker and gaming sites are popular to extract funds (and simultaneously launder them), don't expect them to have much security no.

All of those will require you to pass VBV. You will not get the information necessary to pass VBV without phishing.


Doubt it, maybe for US residents? When I did my first purchase my address didn't match because I was officially living at my parents but sent the package to my own address.

You make it sound like this is difficult or rare, yet banks have a very lax attitude about this and consequently funds thieves with billions upon billions every year. Somehow it is worth it, relying on the victims to scan their transaction history for errors (talk about convenient!).




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