Bugged Canadian Coins?

tundra_man writes "CBC has an article about RFID type devices in Canadian coins found on US Contractors. From the article: 'Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense.' The report did not indicate what kinds of coins were involved."

In Canada...

[EXMSFT]

coins track YOU!

RFID chips

[User 956]

Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada

With RFID chips costing a fraction of a cent apiece, the addition of such a chip must at least triple the value of whatever canadian currency you add it to.

Re:Motive???

[batquux]

Makes ripping off Canadian vending machines just a little bit tougher?

The crazy dude on the corner

[antifoidulus]

screaming about how the birds are spying on him makes a bit more sense now.....

Microwave

[KingNaught]

Just pop your loose change in the microwave for 15sec problem solved ...

Logical course of action? Invade Canada!

[uber_geek9]

These RFID coins are clearly the work of Canadian Terrorists trying to harm the American people.

Re:Motive???

[inviolet]

For the life of me, I can't figure a reason that somebody would do this. Coins change hands quickly and RFID has a pretty limited range.

ForEx traders have a motive: they can position themselves to make a LOT of money based on small changes in the exchange rates between currencies.

1. Spend $100 hacking RFID chips into Canadian coins.
2. Go long on the currency of Canada's neighbors.
3. Pass the coins around and wait for the headlines to appear.
4. Profit !!!

Re:The crazy dude on the corner

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, it makes even more sense considering the Canadian dollar coin is known as the "loonie" [wikipedia.org]. It has a picture of a loon on it.

No, on the *opposite* side from the picture of Liz.

One Liners

[Anonymous Coward]

Those are no coins, those are tokens from Jacques E. Formage, the popular canadian pizza place and arcade combo!

The same technology was once used by the Fox network to track hockey pucks in-game.

They use it to track bears...bears who buy canadian beer.

It's used to track if Gretzky's wife is gambling at the slot machine again.

It's all a plot to try and locate Bob and Doug McKenzie since nobody has seen them in a while.

If they were wireless devices, they'd operate under 802.11eh

It's actually a value added feature...

[gwn]

As the world knows it is cold up here in the Great White North eh! There is usually lots of snow too, eh! Well I can tell you from experience that with all our socialist programs we pay lots of taxes and as a result we don't often end up with folding money, eh! So when your coins go missing it really hurts, eh! Like when you lose a handful of coins in the deep snow, eh! So with RFID coins you just get the portable reader out and scan for the coins to find them, eh! Or, you scan your couch to see if you can afford to order in a pizza with back bacon, eh! You walk in to Harvey's (like McDonald's but much better) and they scan you on the way in and let you know what you can afford, eh!

I put it down to Aliens

[maroberts]

The metal based aliens simply made a mistake and implanted their tracking devices in what they thought was the dominant life form on the planet. OTOH, maybe money is the dominant life form....

A Day In The Life Of A Twoonie

[ackthpt]

• 0700 In Harry's Pocket
• 0734 Tim Horton's for Coffee and Apple Fritter
• 0756 Change for Mary's purchase of Coffee and Scone
• 0810 Given to sad looking homeless man to buy food with
• 0812 In Beer Store register
• 1217 Change for Robert's purchase of something to drink with lunch
• 1259 In the till at Tim Horton's for coffee and donut
• 1349 Change for Alice's purchase of coffee
• 1412 Given to sad looking homeless man to buy food with
• 1425 Placed on two dollar bet for Murray's Little Girl to show in the 3rd race
• 1446 Paid out to Harry for bet on Mum's De Woid to win in the 3rd race

i see a trend here, eh.

Re:Logical course of action? Invade Canada!

[Zeek40]

Little known fact: Ever since Dudley Do-Right [wikipedia.org] made his first appearance on television, Americans have been terrified of Mounties. So long as Canadia keeps its Mounties along the border, you will be safe.

Re:Extortion?

[Slithe]

Canada's equivalent of the CIA

Would that be the CI-eh?

Re:There's not a chance that this is real.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're so right. There's no way to shrink electronics.

Re:Motive???

[paeanblack]

Apparently the name of this project is "Where's Betty?"

Gross!

[Weaselmancer]

The coins may have been given in some immoral/illegal situation by Canada's equivalent of the CIA. Perhaps by one posing as a prostitute?

I believe you're implying that a Canadian prostitute is worth less than a dollar. "Here's yer fifty cents change, honey."

Re:A Day In The Life Of A Twoonie

[digidave]

"i see a trend here, eh."

Yes, this is obviously a clever ploy for the Canadian government to discover where all the Tim Horton's restaurants are located.

Re:Motive???

[Ced_Ex]

That's SO SIMPLE! Obviously it was an undercover operative posing as a Tim Horton's employee. The contractor bought a medium double-double and a apple fritter, and got the bugged coin as change.

The coin is to track the coffee and donut chain's competitor's in the US, such as Dunkin Donuts or whatever.

Re:Motive???

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to change pants more often.

Re:Defence?

[bitingduck]

You mean like in "Canadian Tire"?

And the reason they're keeping the denominations secret is that the bugs were actually found in Canadian Tire money.

Re:Gross!

[HTH NE1]

So, word to the wise: only solicit the Exact-Change-Only prostitutes. (You have no idea where that toonie's been!)

Re:Motive???

[JazzLad]

I read that you read the article and thought WTF. ;)

Re:Motive???

[dangitman]

could backfire like a moose in the headlights.

And you don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when a moose backfires. That just reeks. It's also no use arguing with a moose over who dealt it.