How to Stay Safe and Avoid Frauds Using Apple Pay?

How technology has eased the ways people make payments and carry out financial transactions is a topic with immense appeal. Indeed the advent of technology has changed our overall economic behaviour. The most used technology these days is the invention of mobile wallets, including Apple Pay. Apple Pay is undoubtedly a phenomenal digital wallet with over 507 million users and 5,480 supported banks worldwide. Alongside impacting the overall financial behaviour of the people, it has facilitated every global money transfer expatriates make.

Besides countless benefits of technological advancements, several risks have also grown rapidly, causing unimaginable loss to worldwide users. For instance, according to FBI records, 847,376 cybercrime cases were reported in 2021, which was an alarming 7% increase compared with the past. Numerous online financial frauds have resulted in more than $20 billion loss to people across the world. Apple Pay stopped 1.6 million fraudulent and untrustworthy apps while preventing $1.5 billion from being lost through the scams.

These stats show that an unbelievable number of scammers attempt to steal people’s data putting their online activities at risk. Although you get sufficient security while using Apple Pay, the risk of such attempts remains. Let’s learn in this article how you can keep your online payments safe while using Apple Pay.

What is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is a mobile wallet that you can use on Apple devices such as iPhones, Apple watches, Tablets, etc., compatible with the iOS operating system only. It allows users to securely make purchases online without sharing their credit card information every time they intend to make a payment.

Expatriates residing in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and other developing countries and using any Apple device can easily use Apple Pay to make online purchases and even use the same for online money transfers.

Making payments through Apple Pay is safer than using your credit card in complicated form for the following reasons.

Reasons for Apple Pay’s Robust Security

The following reasons will give you a clear idea of why Apple Pay is considered safer than other mobile wallets.

Extra Verification

If someone happens to steal your device with an Apple Pay mobile wallet, they will have a tough time using it to make purchases because the verification is multi-layered and is protected with passcodes, Touch ID or the Face ID features. And where the passcodes can be breached, the latter two are immensely difficult to fake.

Keeping Your Card Information Safe

Each time you make a transaction, whether in stores or online, the Apple Pay mobile wallet creates a unique code for processing the transaction instead of using your card number. Sharing your card number with the merchant can lead to data breaches, and this is what Apple Pay mobile wallet guards you against. So, you can send money online to your family whenever needed without risking security.

No One Can Skim Your Information.

Many fraudsters have placed a card-skimming device on the card readers that can steal the static information on the magnetic stripe on the card when swiping the card. But, since Apple Pay does not allow sharing the static data or swiping required to use it, it provides extra security.

When You Transfer Money Internationally Or Otherwise, Information Is Not Stored On The Device.

Apple Pay mobile wallet has a unique feature through which your credit card information is not stored on your device or its servers, nor does Apple Pay share your card information with merchants. Therefore, if your device was stolen and the hacker has access to your iCloud account, they would still be unable to get your credit card information.

Suspend Your Service Quickly And Easily

You can place your phone or device in ‘lost mode’ and suspend Apple Pay if you have already activated Find My iPhone feature on your phone or a similar feature on another Apple device. This feature of Apple Pay keeps you from cancelling all of your credit cards.

Now, let’s take a look at the steps to stay safe and secure while using the Apple Pay mobile wallet.

Steps To Follow To Stay Safe

No matter how safe an app is, the ultimate safety will boil down to your care and caution. Yes, Apple Pay provides multi-layered security, but still, you are vulnerable if you do not follow these essential steps.

• Keep your device protected with robust, awkward, unique passcodes along with the Touch and Face ID, and never share these with anyone. You can learn here how to create strong and unique passwords to stay safe online.
• Make sure to set up a Face or Touch ID beside the passcodes
• Never use an open or a public Wi-Fi connection because these are primarily insecure. And using an insecure internet connection exposes you to online hacking immediately
• If you have lost your device or have misplaced it somewhere, act immediately by accessing the feature that places your phone in lost mode. 
• Send money to only those you personally know. Never transfer funds to any stranger or someone impersonating the ones you already know or trust.
• If you receive a payment request from someone, you don’t know, immediately report the attempt by clicking “Report Junk” under the message.
• Apple Pay also facilitates you to permanently block or filter requests from those you don’t know.
• Develop a habit of closely reviewing information before proceeding with the payment whenever you send money abroad using Apple Pay.
• Never share your credentials, such as usernames and passwords, with anyone. If you do so, you’re unquestionably making your information vulnerable to being hacked or stolen.
• There’s a “Receive Payments Manually” feature in Apple Pay’s Setting Menue. You can use this feature to check and verify the details of the senders whenever you receive payment via Apple Pay. In this way, you can refuse to accept payments from fraudsters, scammers, and those you don’t personally know.

Albeit Apple Pay offers stern security measures that are pretty difficult to be breached, you can be a victim of fraud attempts if you aren’t careful while using the wallet. For instance, if you use public WiFi, which is entirely unsafe, or unknowingly proceed with a phishing email, no security measure can help. So, besides relying on the wallets’ security protocols, you must also ensure certain measures to protect your information.

Apple Pay offers the most robust security mechanism that can’t be easily breached compared to other mobile wallets. It automatically stops unauthorised apps to provide users with a safe and reliable platform. If you ensure to follow the safety tips described in this article, Apple Pay can be the best way for an online money transfer to your family. The safety will primarily depend on the level of care you exercise while using a mobile wallet.