Europol warns of Android tap-and-go thefts

[AAD News Feed]

Europol warns of Android tap-and-go thefts

This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 29th September 2016 09:55

Law authorities have warned they believe criminals are using Android phones to trigger fraudulent tap-and-go payments. The alert comes in Europol's annual Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment report. Experts had previously said that the rollout of smart wallet systems could raise such a threat. However, the police are unsure exactly how the attacks are being carried out and how common they are. "The possibility of compromising NFC [near field communication] transactions was explored by academia years ago, and it appears that fraudsters have finally made progress in the area," the report says. "Several vendors in the dark net offer software that uploads compromised card data on to Android phones in order to make payments at any stores accepting NFC payments." The report's authors add that one consequence of the novel crime is that shops might not know how to react even if they detect the deceit. "Currently, when merchants detect a fraudulent transaction, they are requested to seize the card," the report says. "However, the confiscation may not be feasible when the compromised card data are recorded on the buyer's smartphone."............Source: Read more HERE