Special Report: Smart Card Theft

This man looks to be a businessman, carrying what appears to be an iPad.

But little do the surrounding travelers know, he has a device that can steal their credit card information. He bought a contactless credit card reader on line.

You can buy these new for $150 or used for about $100 on auction sites.
The card readers can scan credit and debit cards that have a little chip called RFID or radio frequency identification.

This symbol lets you know you have one. It might also say "blink" or "pay-pass."

These cards don't have to be to swiped when you make a purchase, just waved. We're told pretty soon all cards will have the little chip.

And get this - if your passport has the symbol,that means your passport has a radio chip in it as well.

Walt Augustinowicz owns a company called Identity Stronghold.

He travels around the county showing people how easily they can become victims of electronic pick-pocketing. We tested his device at the airport – and it was able to pick up tons of information.

Augustinowicz has another warning - some smartphones that come in contact with your credit card could e-mail your personal information to an electronic thief.

You might download a game for example, that's infected with a trojan horse, and when it touches your credit card - your info is stolen.

How do you protect yourself? You could wrap your credit cards in foil, or ask your bank for credit or debit cards without RFID.

And with your smartphone - always read the terms before you hit the "yes" button on purchases or downloads.