CLEARWATER, Fla. – Scammers are finding new ways to target your money. The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about ‘ghost tapping’, which targets the ‘tap to pay’ feature on credit cards and smartphones.
What is “ghost tapping?”
Dig deeper:
Scammers have long targeted credit card swipe machines and chip readers, but their techniques continue to evolve with technology. The Better Business Bureau says scammers are able to steal your payment through the ‘tap to pay’ feature, that’s become a nearly effortless way to pay for things.
“They could use cellphones, they can use specific card reader technologies,” Bryan Oglesby, with the Better Business Bureau, West Florida said. Oglesby explains how ‘ghost tapping’ works. He says scammers will try to scan the information from your card or phone when you’re paying.
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“It’s using wireless technology for people who have ‘tap to pay’ credit cards,” he said. “Those NFC devices where it scans your credit card, you don’t insert it, or even mobile pay, which is using that wireless technology to submit the information to make a payment. Scammers can use similar technology and use devices to get close to you and try and steal or receive a payment from your credit card.”
The BBB says a scammer has to be there for a period of time in order for the transaction to go through. Oglesby says big events can be an easy target for scammers because of large crowds and a variety of vendors. “Fake vendors could be there and could be asking you to ‘tap to pay’, and they could be charging more than what they’re claiming the amount is,” Oglesby said.
What they’re saying:
Oglesby encourages people to turn off the near-field communication (NFC) technology on your phone if you’re in a setting with large crowds. “If you have credit cards or debit cards in your wallet, are you using protective sleeves to keep scanning devices from scanning?” he said. “They sell wallets and purses, or you can get free cards that you just slide your credit card in.”
Oglesby says ‘tap to pay’ is still one of the safer ways to pay. “I think the risk is minimal,” he said. “So, using the technology is still your best interest, as opposed to inserting a credit card or swiping a credit card.”
If you experience any of these types of scams, you can report them to the BBB here.
The Source: FOX 13’s Kylie Jones interviewed Bryan Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau of West Florida for this story.
Crime and Public SafetyConsumer
