Drew and Leilani planned a brief excursion to Target on Chicago’s Near North Side. They didn’t plan on losing $4,500 in a scam or Drew suffering serious injuries when things turned violent.
Drew told CBS News Chicago that it all started when they walked into the store and two men they assumed were panhandlers approached them, begging for donations to help bury their brother.
“We were feeling in a giving mood that day,” he told me.
The couple agreed to donate $20, but the men refused to accept cash. Drew and Leilani were skeptical—for good cause, as it turns out.
Tap-to-pay fraud becomes violent.
Leilani then attempted to make a donation with her credit card, but her bank denied the transaction. Drew already had his smartphone out, so he offered to use Apple Pay, which the men confirmed would work.
But when Drew checked his phone after tapping, he discovered they had taken $4,500, not $20.
“I said to myself, ‘Oh, hell no,’ and turned and started chasing them.”
Drew pursued the individuals into the parking garage, where he unsuccessfully attempted to restrain one of them until police arrived. Drew managed to jump inside the car with the two men as they drove away.
“They were swerving into the left lane of parked cars in the Target parking lot, and that ended up throwing me from the car,” Drew told me.
He skidded until he hit the rear of a truck, incurring injuries that brought him to the emergency room, including a fractured rib and punctured lung.
According to CBS News Chicago, the couple is doing well now, but they will have to pay a large hospital cost. They could have avoided both the physical and financial losses if they had been aware of tap-to-pay scams.
How Tap-to-Pay Scams Work
Tap-to-pay scams take use of an often-overlooked aspect of contactless payment on smartphones.
Apple Pay and other contactless payment apps enable users to pay by tapping their phone against a payment terminal or another smartphone. The terminal that draws the funds determines the price, notifies your phone of the amount you spent, and processes the payment.
If the terminal is a scammer’s phone, they can charge whatever price they choose. Drew and Leilani were duped by the men at Target into inputting a considerably larger sum than the $20 the couple promised, and Drew was unaware of it until it was too late.
There are more tap-to-pay frauds to avoid. A stranger in a pub may want to use your phone to make a call or give you their phone number. Once they have your phone, they use rapid payment tools such as Apple Pay to send themselves money.
To protect yourself, use caution when someone asks for money, especially in public locations. If they refuse to accept cash, walk away. Never give your phone to someone you do not know.
Ensure that all payment apps have appropriate security settings, such as requiring authentication for each transaction or a face scan to open. Check your payment history for any questionable activities.
If you are a victim of a contactless payment scam, the Federal Trade Commission suggests that you report it to their consumer fraud website so that the FTC and other organizations can stop scams.
Finally, never chase scammers or engage in physical altercations. Instead, contact your bank immediately and challenge the charges. Drew was able to fight the false claim, and his money was refunded.
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