If you get one of these things from your credit card provider (mine was from my BestBuy MasterCard), destroy it IMMEDIATELY!!!! Call them up (using the number on the back of your credit card, NOT the “activation” number on the Tap&Go; sticker) and tell them to cancel the Tap&Go; PayPass chip ASAP and make sure it NEVER gets activated on your account, then destroy it again!
This is the WORST piece of bad security ever pushed on the public. Here’s how Tap&Go; works:
- You’re making a purchase at a retailer that supports the technology.
- You have the sticker (which has a micro-chip in it) on the back of your cell phone (for convenience only).
- You tap the retailer’s Tap&Go; pad, which automatically sends out a wireless, digital signal, which is received by your chip in your sticker, which then confirms the purchase, wirelessly.
- No signature required.
Sounds convenient, right? Well sure, but if (uh yah, not “if”, but “when”) a criminal walks past you in the subway, in the mall, on the sidewalk, THEY can then charge up to $50 on your card and you never even took the card out of your wallet!!!
Sure, they claim you’re not liable for any unauthorized charges, but you are required to examine each of your credit card statements for suspicious charges and actively notify your credit card company within a given time limit, otherwise they WILL charge you.
Save yourself the trouble and NEVER activate this.