That Apple Cash payment you got from a stranger is not a mistake and the sob story they tell begging you to return it is just part of the con. Here's how to protect yourself.
You almost have to give scammers credit for ingenuity. Someone figured out how to profit from sending a stranger an iPhone, and now someone has found a way to manipulate Apple Cash users.
As happened to a Reddit user, the first thing is that you get an unexpected payment appearing on your iPhone in the Apple Cash part of Apple Wallet. It doesn't matter if you don't already use Apple Cash, as all that will happen is that you're prompted to set it up.
That setup prompt is Apple's and it is legitimate, because the payment appears to be too. If you're not expecting this payment and you haven't already setup Apple Cash, though, save yourself some time by declining the payment.
If you are a user already then by default, this payment will just go into your Apple Cash account. Then very shortly afterwards, if not immediately, you get a message asking you to please return it.
Doubtlessly, many people will just do that. If you hesitate even a little, the message ramps up the pressure.
First you're told it was a mistake, they meant to send it to someone else, but then they start getting really detailed.
Typically they'll say something about how the money was meant to go to something to do with their children. It'll have been for a basketball lesson or something, and if you still don't return the money, now you get sobbing emojis and a claim that it was the sender's last dime.
It's all to make you believe that returning the money is urgent, and so stop you having time to think about it.
What's really happening is that while, yes, you have received money, it was fraudulent. The issuing bank will eventually reverse the payment when, for instance, it's shown that it came from a stolen credit card.
So instead of a seemingly simple return of someone's cash, you will instead have paid them that cash out of your own money.
What to do
If you're reading this because it's currently happening to you, do not engage with the scammer's messages any further. Instead, try this first:
- Open the Wallet app on your iPhone
- Tap on the Apple Cash card
- Look through Latest Transactions
- Tap this payment, then tap it again
- Now tap Reject Payment
There won't be a Reject Payment button if you have already accepted the payment, though. And you may well have done that, as Apple Cash is set to automatically accept incoming payments from any source.
In that case, ignore or block any messages from this scammer and know that the payment will eventually vanish.
You can also turn off this automatic acceptance of payments to prevent this happening in future.
- Open the Wallet app
- Tap on your Apple Cash card
- Tap the ellipses button
- Then tap on Card Details
- Tick Manually Accept Payments
From then on, any time anyone sends you a payment, you will have to tap an Accept button to receive it. You'll have seven days in which to accept the payment.
This particular scam appears to be quite new, but the more people use digital wallets and digital payments, the more fraud attempts there will be. Most recently, scammers have been pretending Apple Pay payments have been declined, for instance.
