Flaw in contactless card could allow fraudulent transactions in foreign currencies: Study

Researchers have reportedly discovered a major flaw in the new contactless bank cards, which could allow users to carry out unlimited cash transactions sans the PIN.

Scientists say limitless transactions are possible, provided, the amount is in a foreign currency.

The Independent reports the glitch could allow fraudsters to extract cash transactions from unwitting victims of up to 999,999.99 in any foreign currency using a mobile phone that has been set up to act as a contactless point-of-sale terminal, researchers at Newcastle University claim.

Martin Emms, the lead researcher on the project at Newcastle, said that a POS terminal capable of reading a card through a wallet was created with the use of a simple mobile phone.

He said that all the checks are carried out on the card rather than the terminal so there was nothing to raise suspicions at the point of transaction.

Emms claimed that by presetting the amount one wants to transfer, the person could bump his mobile against someone's pocket or swipe his phone over a wallet left on a table and approve a transaction, adding that it took less than a second for the transaction to be approved during tests.

Playing down the concern of a possible fraud, credit card company Visa said its review of the Newcastle findings found that the researchers ignored the multiple safeguards put into place throughout the Visa system at the tome of their tests.

The company further said that it would be very difficult to complete a fraudulent payment of this kind outside a laboratory environment, the report added.