Is this just a media scare tactic and much ado about nothing? Is it advanced warning of the next major credit card theft model? That remains to be seen but it is something that merchants potentially need to keep an eye on. Could more be done with this? Could something like this be used to take down a POS terminal or to hack a terminal? There is very real concern regarding this though it does not seem that one has been used in such a manner yet. It has enough memory and processing power to store the information for 30 cards (and probably more). There is legitimate concern over another aspect of the Fuze Card. Some believe that this is just scare tactics designed to prevent the Fuze Card from taking off, others say that the same thing was said about other alternate payment methods like Apple Pay and it proved to be for the most part untrue. How rampant is this? At least two Secret Service field offices are working with law enforcement to investigate incidents involving Fuze Cards. If one has since been deactivated they can simply cycle to the next one. It allows a thief to purchase numbers in bulk and apply them to the card. Also with no information on the card it can be used relatively anonymously. The first is that a thief will no longer need to shuffle through all of their cards to find the one to use thereby reducing suspicion (and the chances of getting caught and having to explain why they have 30 stolen cards on their person). These cards can do several things for thieves. When a card is selected its information is placed onto the magnetic stripe or the chip.
No numbers are displayed and only a small screen allows for the user to know what card is being used. It is actually a data storage device that is capable of holding up to 30 different cards on it. It was released in 2017 and looks just like a credit card but it is not. In January the Secret Service issued an advisory on a recent advancement in credit card technology called the Fuze Card relating to its use with credit card thieves. Unfortunately that also helps to make thieves jobs easier as well. As always technological advancements help to make our lives easier.