It is very likely that in recent years you are paying more with card than in cash. In fact, it is increasingly common to pay simply with your mobile or even a smart watch. But be careful if you come across this that we are going to explain. It is a malware attack that seeks to steal your card and empty the account. We are going to tell you how it works, what you should take into account and we will give you some safety tips.
Malware that blocks NFC payments
The fact that we pay more for contactless, simply by bringing the mobile closer to the terminal, is a problem for hackers. The reason is that this payment method is much more secure since it uses a unique card number for each payment. That is, if they steal that number, it really is worthless to them. On the other hand, if we pay by the traditional method, which is to insert the card in the POS, they can steal the card number and use it later.
What they have devised is malware that is capable of detecting an NFC payment, with a mobile phone for example, and blocking it automatically. An error will appear on the POS screen and it will indicate that we must use the physical card. There would be no choice but to take out the wallet, look for the physical card and pay with it.
In this way, that POS that has been infected by a malware called Prilex PoS will record the number of the card that we are inserting. It will steal the information and it will end up in the hands of hackers. The victim will not realize anything, since the payment, this time, will be made correctly.
This malware uses some rules to block the payment as soon as it detects that we are doing it contactless. It does not matter if you are paying with your mobile, a smartphone or even simply by tapping the card. In all these cases the transaction will be blocked and it will say that the card must be inserted.
How to avoid being robbed when paying with your mobile
So what should you do to avoid being robbed when paying contactless? Unfortunately, it is not something that depends on us, since it is malware that has somehow slipped into the POS where we are paying. We will not immediately realize that the data has been stolen. The only thing you can do is be careful whenever they ask you to insert the card and see if that POS has been tampered with or if you see something strange.
In addition, you should always check the bank account periodically. This will help you detect any inappropriate charges as soon as possible. This way you can contact your bank or the card provider and be able to recover the money. It is important that you do not leave a bank account forgotten, without seeing if you really have the balance you should.
Beyond that, some advice that we can give you is to avoid making online payments through public Wi-Fi networks if you do not use a good VPN, always protect your devices and keep everything up to date. That will prevent them from sneaking in any type of malware on your mobile that can record your data, for example. Of course, you will notice that the Internet is slower over VPN but that is because it is encrypting the connection and it will be more secure.
In short, as you can see, hackers have devised a new technique to continue stealing bank cards when paying. Of course we are facing something very concrete and it is very difficult for us to come across it in our day to day. But it is a problem that is there and should be known to detect possible fraud.
