A woman says she lost $150 to a subscription service that linked to her digital wallet without her knowing, and she’s warning others not to synch their information to Apple Pay. A TikTok user named Goldmember (@goldihana) posted a video explaining what happened to her so others wouldn’t fall into a similar trap.
“If you have your card on your Apple Pay, please take that off. Don’t leave any of your important debit cards, credit cards, whatever on Apple Pay,” she says, adding, “[They] don’t need no type of authorization once they add that card to their digital wallet.”
Frustrated, the woman continues, “I did a background check on my baby daddy like two months ago. I paid $1. One singular dollar. I didn’t pay for no subscription.”
“They done charged my card $30 five different times. That is $150. And every time I make a claim, the claim gets reversed. They’re somehow getting these claims reversed and then turn around and [charge her] again,” she says. “Because they’re using my card in my Apple Pay.”
Is syncing your card to Apple Pay safe?
Experts have warned against linking your bank account to Apple Pay, as it makes it easier for fraudulent charges to occur. In fact, FICO reports that there was a 20% increase in the number of credit cards being compromised in 2023 compared to 2022. They say that nearly 120,000 cards were affected by such issues in the first half of 2023 alone.
There are a number of ways to safeguard yourself from digital wallet scams. These include only making purchases via trustworthy sources, using enhanced authentication features to make purchases, and to be conscious about using unknown Wi-Fi networks when making transactions. Also, be sure to regularly check your bank and credit card statements so you can be sure to dispute unauthorized charges on time.
The video received 1.3 million views and 59,000 likes. However, a number of viewers were not sympathetic to Goldmember’s plight.
“So you didn’t read the fine print. You’re crying because you consented to use your platform. Don’t blame Apple. Blame the background check people,” chastised one person who did not believe that Apple Pay was in the wrong.
“After yu pay the $1 [you] suppose to cancel the account it automatically put [you] in a subscriptions,” said another.
“Go to the company that’s charging you and cancel the subscription. I’m sure it said if you don’t cancel within a certain time you will automatically be charged,” suggested a third, to which Goldmember responded, saying, “I cancelled twice and I’m still getting charged after also ordering a new card.”
However, a number of users shared that they had dealt with similar instances of fraud as well.
“I had a ton of fraud happen through Apple Pay. Not a single one of my cards are linked to my Apple Pay anymore,” wrote one user.
“I literally just got a random chargers of $40 on my card and I cannot figure out what it’s from,” claimed another.
@goldihana ♬ original sound – Goldmember ✨
“I had to canceled my debit card at least 20 times . Now we don’t use Apple Pay,” said someone else.
The Daily Dot reached out to Goldmember via TikTok direct message for further updates.
