Tap-To-Pay Scam Is On The Rise And Affecting Travellers, Here's How To Identify And Stay Safe

This seems like a hard time for travellers, as the physical scams are already there, and now digital scams are slowly creeping in. In a recent development, a new type of scam is affecting travellers, dubbed

ghost tapping, which is spreading like a virus in tourist destinations in a lot of countries. The latest scam takes place through tap to pay (NFC) tech on credit cards, debit card, and smartphones. In this attack, the scammers attempt to empty your bank accounts in crowded areas like airports, markets, and festival gatherings. Moving forward, let's understand what it ghost tapping is and how you can stay safe from it. Contactless payments are used on a regular basis by a lot of travellers. And with techniques like ghost tapping, the scammers tend to steal all your money. Multiple issues have been reported where the scammers have stolen money from victims by triggering contactless or tap to pay payments. These scammers carry portable NFC readers or phones that are modified to steal data. They even pose as fake vendors and ask you to go for tap to pay to buy something cheap. Now, at the time of payment, victims may get charged heavily without them noticing. As of now, there is no country-specific data available to define which region has been affected the most. But cases have been registered in the US, UK, Spain, France, Thailand, Indonesia, Italy and more.

How To Stay Safe From Tap To Pay Scams?

While travelling, the best practice could be to keep the NFC feature turned off on your device. Apart from that, you can also use RFID-blocking wallets or card sleeves. Furthermore, you should avoid using tap to pay at shops or vendors that are not trusted or look dubious. Always keep the instant transaction alert enabled on your smartphone so that you can know if something unauthorized is happening.