Disney World visitor claims $40,000 credit card fraud occurred after losing Apple Watch
A visitor to Disney World dubiously claims she is the victim of credit card fraud valued at over $40,000, after dropping her Apple Watch on a ride at Disney World.
While stories of lost or misplaced Apple devices are a regular occurrence, it is rare for device owners to lose significant sums from the loss. In one report about an April 13 trip to Disney World in Florida, an Apple Watch owner claims just that.
According to a report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office seen by WDW News Today, a park guest lost her Apple Watch on The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot. At a point when the ride was at an elevated position, the guest dropped the Hermes edition Apple Watch through a grated floor on the ride.
The report claims the woman's husband got off the ride to try and get the Apple Watch back, prompting operators to stop the ride. A park Cast Member then instructed the couple to stay on the ride while it was in motion and assured them that it would be returned to their hotel.
After filing an incident report with Disney Guest Relations, the woman was advised that the staff didn't have the watch.
Complicating the incident is a claim that the woman started to receive fraud alerts for her credit card. She says that several credit cards were loaded onto the Apple Watch, including an American Express card with unlimited credit.
The fraud alerts allegedly totaled $40,000 in charges to her card. Hearing this, the woman then shut down the relevant credit cards.
A report was then made to the Orange County Sheriff's Office on April 14, with police telling the woman to talk to her card issuers to find out more about the fraudulent charges for a full investigation. The report doesn't reveal the name of the victim nor any details of where the money was supposedly spent.
While it is plausible that the woman did end up with $40,000 in charges to her credit card, it seems unlikely to have been caused by the lost Apple Watch.
As an Apple Watch automatically locks for security after it has been removed from a wrist, the correct PIN would be required to unlock it before a payment can be made. Unless the code is an extremely easily guessed number, it is improbable that the code could be entered correctly without any hints within a few tries.
There could be other explanations for the fraud taking place, such as traditional types involving the card details, cloning the card, and theft.
Read on AppleInsider
While stories of lost or misplaced Apple devices are a regular occurrence, it is rare for device owners to lose significant sums from the loss. In one report about an April 13 trip to Disney World in Florida, an Apple Watch owner claims just that.
According to a report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office seen by WDW News Today, a park guest lost her Apple Watch on The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot. At a point when the ride was at an elevated position, the guest dropped the Hermes edition Apple Watch through a grated floor on the ride.
The report claims the woman's husband got off the ride to try and get the Apple Watch back, prompting operators to stop the ride. A park Cast Member then instructed the couple to stay on the ride while it was in motion and assured them that it would be returned to their hotel.
After filing an incident report with Disney Guest Relations, the woman was advised that the staff didn't have the watch.
Complicating the incident is a claim that the woman started to receive fraud alerts for her credit card. She says that several credit cards were loaded onto the Apple Watch, including an American Express card with unlimited credit.
The fraud alerts allegedly totaled $40,000 in charges to her card. Hearing this, the woman then shut down the relevant credit cards.
A report was then made to the Orange County Sheriff's Office on April 14, with police telling the woman to talk to her card issuers to find out more about the fraudulent charges for a full investigation. The report doesn't reveal the name of the victim nor any details of where the money was supposedly spent.
While it is plausible that the woman did end up with $40,000 in charges to her credit card, it seems unlikely to have been caused by the lost Apple Watch.
As an Apple Watch automatically locks for security after it has been removed from a wrist, the correct PIN would be required to unlock it before a payment can be made. Unless the code is an extremely easily guessed number, it is improbable that the code could be entered correctly without any hints within a few tries.
There could be other explanations for the fraud taking place, such as traditional types involving the card details, cloning the card, and theft.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Unlimited credit limit? Sounds like they have more money than brains. I know AMEX and most banks are very cautious of unusual activity. Something is fishy.
It's also possible that someone saw them put in a PIN on their Watch or iPhone previously. Regardless, the Watch with Wallet is a weak point in security so people need to take more precautions so these things are less likely to happen. (Note that I wrote less likely, not impossible—these things will still happen.)
Where does it say she charged or claimed it was Apple’s fault?
Can you say? Click-Bait
Sorry AppleInsider, slow news day or not, a few more stories like this and I won’t bother… Geesh!
Who posts here, does not count as an average user. And as soon as your IT Dept requires stringer password chances of Findling a post-it with the PWD rise astronomically.
I've only ever had one credit card company send me an email after I've made a valid transaction with which they've approved to ask me if it was a valid transaction. All my others deny then contact me. Regardless, it's not like I'd be on the line if the approved it.
Bottom line: protect your valuables, especially if those aren't currently tangible and can easily be better protected with some security options.
Maybe she's not blaming Apple, and certainly AI didn't say she was. What makes this news is the mention of the loss of Apple gear and a subsequent allegation of credit card fraud. As stated in the article the auto-locking of the Watch should prevent access.
So was her PIN an easy 1-2-3-4 or 1-1-1-1 or 0-0-0-0 whatever? Was her password brute forced/luckily guessed? This is basically FUD on the part of the original media sources. "OMG! Apple devices responsible for massive fraud!!"
You have any doubt the general media wasn't going for click-bait? Did they unlike AI mention why this seemed dubious? No. THAT doesn't generate clicks. APPLES' FAULT does, and it's implied. There was no mention of preventative measures in the original article that AI referenced.
Anybody owning digital devices with financial information should take notice of lessons to be learned: don't use a simple four-digit password, there are options, and don't fiddle with your pricey Apple Hemrès Watch (or any expensive kit) while on a freakin' ride.
I use a 6-digit PIN and may move to an alpha-numeric PIN. Or a 7-digit PIN. AI readers are not 'typical' (well except for trolls) and generally are already aware of the pitfalls and potential safeguards. But the casual media reader will only see stuff like the WDW article which offers zero help. AI mentioned them. Maybe WDW should mention this article.
https://wdwnt.com/2022/05/guest-drops-apple-watch-on-epcot-ride-jumps-out-to-get-it-then-has-40000-in-fraudulent-credit-card-charges/
If you knew from the jump you wouldn't like it, you didn't have to read it. And, if you don't like it, that doesn't make it clickbait.
As a reminder, AppleInsider is for everybody, and this piece discusses the details of the Apple Watch -- and no others we saw today did.