Can a cheap Compact Flash USB Card Reader (let's say this:
Short answer, no. I use card readers all the time and they are all pretty cheap. However they all do excellent work and are well worth the few bucks you'll pay.
Flash memory does no longer have nor does it desire any shifting factors. once you plug in a flash card, the pins connect and that's how the information is transferred. So, temporarily, no, no shifting factors :)
Despite what the others have posted, I may have gotten a dud. I bought a cheap one and while it did not damage the card, it did corrupt the image files and I lost them despite using several recovery software I would say, dish out the $$ for a good one. I went with the Sandisk. Looking at the picture, I see the USB connection point, where does the CF fit into it? On the side? It looks like Flash Drive.
No. Compact Flash cards are very well designed. Some very cheap card readers don't hold the card tightly enough to guide the card onto the pins, the plastic flexes. If the card doesn't go in straight you can bend pins in the reader. It renders the reader unusable but the card will be fine. (It's happened twice to me.)
