Identity theft has taken a turn for the worse, but an impressive new product called the Armadillo Dollar, created by Wisteria House Products of Gilbert, Arizona, can protect you against this new wireless ID theft and RFID monitoring.

When put into a person's wallet, the Armadillo Dollar blocks the transmission of sensitive private information from RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) enabled debit/credit cards or employee badges. The user can move around essentially undetected by RFID readers, and wireless ID thieves.

Without this protection, wireless identity thieves called "skimmers," can steal your personal information out of the air surrounding your purse or wallet using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) interception technology. Over 50 million RFID embedded credit and debit cards have been issued to Americans this year, representing the single greatest threat to consumers in history.

Each card has a microprocessor embedded that broadcasts personal account information on the cardholder whenever it is targeted by an RF pulse. The cardholder's data can be stolen through the airwaves and cloned, then used by the thief. The Armadillo Dollar, which is an RF shield, defends against this type of attack. When folded over in your wallet, the Armadillo Dollar blocks these signals from escaping or being activated remotely so your information stays intact.

With an amplified targeted RF pulse, skimming is getting easier. Two men demonstrated skimming at 69 feet at an electronics convention in 2005, and it is possible targeted skimming can be done even further away.

Identity thieves aren't the only concern. "Authorized users" of RFID technology, such as stores and restaurants that accept RFID payments, have been siphoning information from RFID-laced credit, debit and loyalty cards to deliver up targeted advertising and perform in-depth marketing research on you. They can legally hide RFID readers in doorways, counters, tables and other locations to grab information you would never offer up voluntarily. Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion And Numbering) and co-author of "SPYCHIPS" with Liz McIntyre, describe in their book how RFID is integrated into every part of our lives and is not going away.

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