Method for detecting an identification medium in a communication area (1.1.1) of an antenna (1.1) of a near-field communication read/write unit (1.2) for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals, wherein - an interrogation signal with a specified power value is transmitted via a transmission path connected to the antenna (1.1) and the antenna (1.1), - after a defined first time delay from the start of transmission of the interrogation signal, a first signal change with respect to a first reference signal is sampled at the antenna (1.1) and the sampled signal change is compared in amplitude and/or phase with at least one amplitude or phase assigned to the first reference signal, characterized in that - after a defined second time delay from the beginning of the transmission of the interrogation signal, a second signal change with respect to a second reference signal is sampled at the antenna (1.1) and the sampled second signal change is compared in amplitude and/or phase with at least one amplitude or phase assigned to the second reference signal, wherein the at least two signal changes are sampled with different amplitudes and/or phases, and - wherein - either a communication signal is transmitted to establish communication with an identification medium if the at least two sampled signal changes differ from the respectively assigned reference signal (RS1, RS2) by respectively predetermined trigger thresholds - or otherwise the interrogation signal for detecting the identification medium is repeatedly transmitted with a different amplitude and/or phase. - an interrogation signal with a specified power value is transmitted via a transmission path connected to the antenna (1.1) and the antenna (1.1), - after a defined first time delay from the start of transmission of the interrogation signal, a first signal change with respect to a first reference signal is sampled at the antenna (1.1) and the sampled signal change is compared in amplitude and/or phase with at least one amplitude or phase assigned to the first reference signal, characterized in that - after a defined second time delay from the beginning of the transmission of the interrogation signal, a second signal change with respect to a second reference signal is sampled at the antenna (1.1) and the sampled second signal change is compared in amplitude and/or phase with at least one amplitude or phase assigned to the second reference signal, wherein the at least two signal changes are sampled with different amplitudes and/or phases, and - wherein - either a communication signal is transmitted to establish communication with an identification medium if the at least two sampled signal changes differ from the respectively assigned reference signal (RS1, RS2) by respectively predetermined trigger thresholds - or otherwise the interrogation signal for detecting the identification medium is repeatedly transmitted with a different amplitude and/or phase. - either a communication signal is transmitted to establish communication with an identification medium if the at least two sampled signal changes differ from the respectively assigned reference signal (RS1, RS2) by respectively predetermined trigger thresholds - or otherwise the interrogation signal for detecting the identification medium is repeatedly transmitted with a different amplitude and/or phase.