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I dunno - it seems like an obvious way of getting credit card numbers (especially in urban areas. I live in a six-story building, with other tallish buildings nearby.) I wonder why I've never heard of anyone doing it....

The percentage in doing it seems pretty small. You'd have to hear the right number at the right time -- how much of your month do you spend reading your cc number over the phone? Five minutes total? Not even.

I don't know of any instances of credit card numbers being ganked that way, but phones can be wierd. A few weeks ago, my answering machine had a conversation between two other parties on it. Not quite sure how that happened.

24: Chloie made me laugh out loud. Twice.

The percentage in doing it seems pretty small. You'd have to hear the right number at the right time -- how much of your month do you spend reading your cc number over the phone? Five minutes total? Not even.

Well, you could interface a scanner to a computer. Just have it listen for someone punching in a 16-digit number after dialing a regular number. (There is an algorithm to determine whether a given 16 digit number would/could be a valid credit card number.)

Actually, I have no idea if there are scanners that can be interfaced to a computer and that don't cost a bajillion dollars....

OMG I'm a dolt -- I was totally picturing a scene like when the movie-FBI has to listen to the bugs on the movie-Mafia people's phones.

The Loyalty Monkey, I think it's called.

Great. Now Emmet's going to want a Loyalty Monkey.

I googled

cordless phone credit card scanner fraud

and came up with warnings based on the theory that it could happen, but so far no hard stats....

Let's Settle This. Who Would Win?

Ninjas

Pirates

Robots

Monkeys

Pfft. CHUCK NORRIS, bitch!

Found this:

Newer digital cordless phones have better security, but cheaper or older phones have few if any security features. Anyone using a radio scanner can eavesdrop on older analog cordless phone calls, even if the phone has multiple channels.

Oh. Good to know.

eta: This somewhat contradics that, but it's from a site that seems to be designed to scare people:

2) Before you make that call--don't use your cordless or cellular phone. Supply sensitive information only on phones connected by wire to your phone outlet. Unless your cordless or cellular phone is an expensive, code-scrambling model, anyone with the appropriate radiowave scanning device can overhear your conversation including your account information and your new password.

Still haven't found any stats or even descriptions of actual cases.

Neat. Star Spangled Banner in Yiddish, from 1943.