An old saw of local television networks seeking a consumer story for their news bulletins is the latest credit card scare - these are sometimes manufactured.
WREG, of Memphis, Tennessee, has just produced a minor star of this genre, which, according to Visa, peddles the business interests of a maker of sleeves to protect cards with magnetic stripes.
The news item has gone viral and been viewed by millions. The video shows a 'computer hacker' obtaining credit card details from the wallets of unsuspecting pedestrians without ever touching them or stealing from them.
Using a radio scanner bought on the net for US$100, the 'hacker' accesses card numbers and expiry dates from NFC-enabled cards in people's wallets and handbags.
The 'hacker' is Walt Augustinowicz, the founder of Identity Stronghold, a maker of card sleeves. The metallic card sleeve fits over the credit card and 'protects it' from identity thieves.
However, Russell Zimmerman, owner of Spark's Shoes and chair of the Australian Merchant Retailers Association, said: "Retailers will be worried if they spend precious dollars on this technology and consumers turn around and say, 'We are scared of it, we don't want it'."
McDonalds and 7/11 are two big merchants that have recently embraced NFC.
"I don't know if this kind of thing is really a threat or not and I note from the video the hacker is using a reader about the size of an iPad so I can't see him getting away with too much in public," said Zimmerman.
Ian McKindley, Visa International's director, country risk management for Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Islands, said emphatically: "This is not a realistic threat."
"There has not been one single recorded case in the Asia-Pacific region of any fraud happening this way.
"Even cases of cards being mistakenly lost and then used by other people are very low.
"Our total losses from contactless fraudulent transactions in Asia-Pac are less than US$1000," said McKindley.
The real frontline in the battle against card fraud is the data storage arrangements of retailers, said McKindley.
"Why would the criminals do this to get one or two card numbers? It is too labour intensive and you only get a number and expiry date."
"Criminals find it much more lucrative to target the databases of merchants and that is where we are focussing our security efforts currently."