Just about everyone today has a bank card and some have the "tap and pay" feature.
Now police are suggesting that people "de-activate" the tap tool if you're not using it.
The tap feature allows people to make purchases by simply tapping the card on a transaction terminal without entering a pin number. Many banks allow for such purchases of up to $100.
Timmins police say thieves are taking other people's debit cards and using the tap feature to make purchases. They say officers have had to deal with several calls in the past couple of weeks.
Kate Cantin is the Corporate Communications Coordinator with the Timmins Police Service. She says one person recently dropped a bank card at a local store; someone picked it up and then made seven transactions at different locations totaling $200.
"We have received an increase in calls where the complainant states that the card has either been lost or stolen and then used to make purchases using the tap feature that are not authorized by the owner of the card." said Cantin.
Police are not suggesting to discontinue using the feature, but rather to keep your cards safe.
"We're simply advising people that there is an option to turn the feature off and we wanted to the public know of the potential risks." said Cantin.
A Timmins man that spoke to CTV News only uses the tap feature on his debit card for purchases at a popular coffee chain.
"It can be useful, but there's definitely a disadvantage to it at this point. As long as the financial companies are willing to eat up that loss." said another consumer.
One woman we spoke to said that she checks her bank account every day to ensure her bank account is safe.
In providing information about the risks associated with the tap feature on debit cards, the Timmins Police Service is hoping to see a decrease in the number of incidents involving tap and stolen money.
