Use your Android phone to cheat the transit authority

Say, do you remember those phone hacks of the 1970s -- free calls using a whistle inside Capt'n Crunch cereal boxes? Or perhaps you recall the 1980's version, depicted in movie WarGames with a soda can pull top? Supposedly you can relive the underground hacking days, quite literally, using an Android app to get free subway rides.

My boss spotted a ZDNET story about this little, ah, gimmick from the Intrepidus Group. Due to a Near Field Communication-chip flaw, would-be digital turnstile jumpers can reset some transit cards to their original state using an Android app. That's another 10 free rides for you, bud.

In the video above, a Samsung Nexus S, which ships with stock Android and has NFC, is used to borrow subway rides (yes, we know it's stealing). Too bad iPhone 5 doesn't have NFC, eh? Of course, iPhone users won't risk phone profiling from transit cops.

10 Responses to Use your Android phone to cheat the transit authority

Why Trust Us

At BetaNews.com, we don't just report the news: We live it. Our team of tech-savvy writers is dedicated to bringing you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and trustworthy reviews across the digital landscape.

betanews logo

We don't just report the news: We live it. Our team of tech-savvy writers is dedicated to bringing you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and trustworthy reviews across the digital landscape.

x logo facebook logo linkedin logo rss feed logo

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved.