Apple Pay has become the target of scammers.
Thieves are using stolen IDs and credit card information to buy high value products through Apple Pay, according to The Guardian. Much of the theft has occurred in Apple stores (AAPL), since the retailer offers high-priced items and accepts Apple pay.
Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli notes that security is one of the selling points of Apple Pay.
“We were always inured to that, the idea of identity theft,” he says. “I do think, obviously, one of the big appeals of Apple Pay is that it’s supposed to be more secure on some level."
The thieves are registering new iPhones with stolen personal information, and subsequently banks approve the phones to make purchases. However, Santoli believes that this problem won’t hurt Apple Pay in the long run.
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“Extra links in the chain as to how you get a card approved and how you have a bank ratify the identity of someone, I guess that is where the opportunity for scammers gets in there,” he says. “So I don’t really think it changes the overall selling points of Apple Pay. If you liked it before, you probably like it now. It’s really up to everyone along that chain to get it right.”
Andy Serwer, Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief, thinks people are getting accustomed to fraud.
“I think it's sadly true. I think it’s a huge problem that's getting worse, and I really feel that there’s going to be a reckoning. I'm not saying it’s going to be with Apple Pay, but it's the whole system.”
Serwer adds that he believes the worst is still to come in terms of financial fraud and hacking.
“We are in a really dangerous situation in terms of some really big bad event,” he says. “Someday some big bank is going to get knocked for three or four days, and then people are going to freak out. Imagine the ATM system not working for a few days, and what that would do. It's scary.”
