Everything You Need To Know About ‘Ghost Tapping,’ The New Scam That’s Making People Lose Thousands

<div class="content-list-component text"><p>Tapping your phone to pay has become a common and easy way to purchase treats and gifts –– but it could also be a hidden way for fraudsters to scam you out of money. </p><p>That’s because some scammers might be “ghost tapping” and taking advantage of the tap-to-pay and mobile wallet technology when you buy goods on the street, according to a new <a href="https://www.bbb.org/all/consumer/scam/how-to-spot-and-avoid-tap-to-pay-scams" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alert</a> by the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit that tracks bad advertisements and customer complaints in North America. </p><p>In the scam reports, people say they unwittingly thought they were tapping to pay for legitimate purchases, only to later see they were being overcharged hundreds, and in some cases, thousands, of dollars. </p><p>In Illinois, a young man with a clipboard claimed that he was raising money for funeral expenses for a family member who had been shot and killed, according to one BBB <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/lookupscam/1035561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a>.</p><p>“I said I could donate $5...I handed my credit card to one of the men, who took my credit card and attempted tap-to-pay on his phone,” the victim recalled. “The interaction felt off to me, so I immediately checked my credit card accounts which both showed multiple charges for $2,496 each to a PayPal account.” </p><p>In the reports, scammers would avoid showing buyers what they were tapping for on the mobile pay terminals. That’s why asking to see the screen “to see exactly what’s happening is a great way to protect yourself,” said Melanie McGovern, the BBB’s director of public relations and social media.</p><h2><strong>‘Ghost Tapping’ Is Rare, But It’s