Watch out! Another tap to pay scam looms in Mzansi

Tap-and-go or contactless payments, like tapping your card or utilising your smartphone or smartwatch at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, are gaining popularity for their convenience.

BusinessTech reports: “Imagine you’re paying for petrol and someone is standing near you. They’re talking on their phone, it’s completely normal. Nothing to worry about, right? Well, until you tap the Point of Sale device with your card, that is."

“As you tap, that person taps your card, and the money comes off twice—once for the petrol and once for the fraudster. It’s an incredibly easy scam to perpetrate as well. All you need is a credit card machine in your pocket, and you can take any amount you want from someone’s card,” shares Richard Frost, Product Head from cyber security company Armata. (BusinessTech) 

And just like that, by the time you realise that you have two notifications from the bank, the sneaky criminal is in the wind.

Read More: WATCH before you tap to pay in South Africa

One major concern when using this feature is that many cards do not have a low limit. That being said, chancers can swipe amounts up to R10,000.

So what can you do to limit this from happening? 

• Be aware of your surroundings 
• Be alert when making payments in a crowded space 
• Place a limit on your card for the tap-to-pay functionality 
• Add any available authentication for transitions 
• Disable the function on your card if you worry this could happen to you 

Frost further mentions that a mobile phone has more security than a card. When you tap it, the cellphone will only allow the amount to come off once. 

Any taps thereafter will fail, which will prevent this type of fraud from happening.

Additionally, a phone has a time limit. This makes it significantly harder for a criminal to come up and tap it.

Take a look at more tap to pay scams: 

Stay alert and when in doubt, check in with your bank. 

Read More: New payment system introduced for the South African public

Stay tuned for more, we will bring you the latest at East Coast Radio. 

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