Melbourne, FL, June 19, 2013 –(PR.com)– For consumers alarmed by rising rates of identity theft and credit card fraud, the nagging question remains: What can reasonably be done to prevent it?
Finally, there’s a simple and affordable answer: GarbleCard™.
Using shielding technology originally developed for the U.S. Department of Defense, GarbleCard is a credit card-sized product that, when placed inside a wallet or purse, provides comprehensive security and peace of mind.
GarbleCard was developed to provide passive and reliable protection against RFID skimming, one of the most insidious and rapidly growing forms of identity theft. Increasingly popular due to the low level of skill, cost and risk involved, thieves use a $15 device, readily available online, to silently and instantaneously copy confidential information off most credit cards, identity cards, access cards and passports while remaining at a safe and inconspicuous distance.
GarbleCard thwarts RFID skimmers by shielding the owner’s cards against the unauthorized electronic transfer of data. Priced below the cost of a movie ticket, the technology is “pocket friendly” in more ways than one.
“Technologies for preventing RFID skimming have been available for some time, but earlier products were too expensive, cumbersome or inconvenient,” said Kevin Bartczak, co-founder of Melbourne, Fla-based Garble LLC. “We knew there had to be a better solution.”
RFID-blocking wallets force people to switch to a single-design wallet that most consider unappealing. Sleeves take up valuable wallet space and require manually removing and re-inserting cards upon each use. Neither product offers protection for critical, larger documents such as passports. Electronic reader alarms often go off in embarrassingly public places when cards are used for normal shopping.
“As with every high-tech innovation, the best way to ensure widespread adoption is to design something consumers will actually use,” explained Bartczak. “That hadn’t existed in this space until GarbleCard.
The Smart Card Alliance reports that “according to Eurosmart, over 6.1 billion smart cards were shipped worldwide in 2011…to grow 13% to 6.9 billion in 2012.” Smart cards are currently used worldwide for many applications, including healthcare, financial, transit, telecommunications and secure identification. Uses most common in the United States include the U.S. Federal Government Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card being issued by all Federal agencies for employees and contractors; the ePassport being issued by the Department of State; and payment cards and devices being issued by American Express, Discover Network, MasterCard and Visa. (See http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/alliance)
GarbleCard will be available for purchase June 24th on Indiegogo for as little as $10.00 for a set of two. One GarbleCard can protect multiple credit cards and nearby documents simply by being placed within the same wallet, pocket, purse or billfold.
To participate in Garble’s Indiegogo crowd funding project, visit http://buygc.me beginning Monday, June 24th.
About Garble LLC
Garble LLC was co-founded in 2012 by inventor-entrepreneurs Kevin Bartczak and Andy Biro with the mission of introducing truly effective consumer-level protection against RFID skimming. The company’s initial product, GarbleCard, is an inexpensive device that, when placed in a wallet or purse, provides passive protection to documents placed nearby. Who’s in your wallet?