A contactless integrated circuit (IC) card reader configured to communicate with a contactless IC card includes an antenna circuit, a variable amplifier that amplifies a carrier signal at an amplification gain and outputs the amplified carrier signal to the antenna circuit as a transmit signal, a variable attenuator that attenuates a receive signal received through the antenna circuit at an attenuation ratio, and a controller that controls the amplification gain and the attenuation ratio based on the attenuated receive signal.