One of the latest photos doing the rounds on social media shows a person holding a card terminal, supposedly using it to extract contactless card payments through the pockets of unaware people.
However, it's causing a lot more panic than it deserves - at least in the UK. The UK Cards Association, the trade body for card payments, has confirmed to techradar there have been no reported incidents of this crime in the country.
According to the UK Cards Association, this is it's nigh on impossible that someone could carry this out and get away with it.
Originally a post on a Russian Facebook page, the photo in question was picked up and shared by a lot of people claiming fraudsters could be slyly using POS (Point Of Sale) terminals to steal up to £30 at a time. But that's not the case, according to the UK Cards Association.
Giles Mason, Media Relations Manager for the UK Cards Association, told techradar, "In order to be able receive any money from a card payment, a retailer account must be set up with an acquiring bank.
"All acquirers carry out thorough security checks before setting up an account, and monitor new accounts for any suspicious activity. Every card payment is fully traceable, right through to the recipient account, meaning if any fraud is reported the recipient is easily identifiable."
It is theoretically possible that someone could use a registered terminal that is connected to a retail account, but it would be easy to track the thief down.
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