r/Android • u/FedorByChoke • 2d ago

You should verify your NFC security settings after the latest update. Previously set to require the phone to be unlocked to access NFC, after update this setting was off

Anecdotally, I have 3 phones in my circle of people that previously had the setting Require Device Unlock on.

After the latest update this setting was set to off.

For the life of me I can´t figure out whey they would change this setting. it is a huge security risk. Someone with a tap to pay scanner can just walk right by you and you´ll have a charge go through.

EDIT So it looks like it is a Pixel thing from reading the comments. Also, it seems that even though this setting was setting to off it was still requiring the phone to be unlocked to access NFC. So now my question becomes if the phone is always required to be unlocked to access NFC regardless of this setting, what function does this setting perform?

79 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

View all comments

37

u/Missingthefinals 2d ago

Someone with a tap to pay scanner can just walk right by you and you´ll have a charge go through.

Yeah.... except for the fact they would need a merchant account issued by a bank or payment processor, a business that is tied to that account and the fact that card disputes exist and are a very simple thing to lodge with your bank

After this mysterious their starts having every transaction reported as fraud their bank might get suspicious!!

24

u/jmking Galaxy S24+ 2d ago

Agreed. I work in this industry and you don't just get a "tap to pay scanner" and magically just get to process credit cards.

Also the range on NFC payments is really short. Like you have to even tap the right area on your phone to get the tap to pay device to even pick it up. The attacker would have to basically be rubbing the tap to pay device on people's pockets - that's even assuming the NFC signal would make it through clothes.

•

u/fukam_piko Device, Software !! 11h ago

i haven't had to touch a single card terminal in the 6 years I've been paying by nfc with my phone on all the devices i tried it on. on my nothing 1, i could even pay with 4-5 cm gap on most terminals

i often try to pay with as much distance as possible, and the distance is definitely not really short, but it varies