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Can Camera Phones Capture Credit Card Numbers?

Popular Myth Put To Test

POSTED: 2:17 pm EST February 16, 2004
UPDATED: 5:12 pm EST February 16, 2004

By now you know the hot new thing in cell phones is camera phones. But in this Don't Waste Your Money report, John Matarese showed how these phones may be behind a new credit card scam.

If you are at a store and you pull out a credit card, could the person behind you secretly be snapping pictures of the number on your card?

A new warning -- made online and even from some police departments -- says this could be happening.

Advertising executive Angel Spirou saw the warning, but was skeptical. So we asked if she'd put the claim to the test. Spirou was given two popular camera phones.

A credit card and an ATM card were laid out, with some digit blacked out to be safe. From a foot away, the numbers could not be seen.

"Other than the Visa logo, it is hard to tell it's a credit card," said Spirou.

Today's camera phones don't zoom in, so the camera had to be 4 inches away before seeing a grainy image of some numbers.

Of course, you should always protect your credit card out in public, but a thief would have to be just inches from your card to capture its number.




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