Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 7 November 2019
Digital wallets like Apple Cash can't help if you're scammed

By SOPHIA ROSENBAUM developments. Apple has
Associated Press partnered with Goldman
NEW YORK (AP) — My des- Sachs for an Apple-brand-
peration to see Ariana ed credit card, which some
Grande in concert created experts say may put pres-
the perfect trap. sure on Apple to get more
Instead of seeing her sing serious about protecting its
about love and loss, I got consumers on other servic-
sucked into an online tick- es like Apple Cash.
et scheme that cost me But even newer services
$75 and a big chunk of my — and newer targets for
pride. scammers — are coming.
Con artists often get away Facebook is working on a
with scams like these be- digital currency called Li-
cause digital payment ser- bra, which the company
vices such as Venmo and says will allow for easier
Apple Cash don't protect buying and selling across
consumers the same way the internet. Facebook
credit cards do. As a rule says when people spend
of thumb, the newer the libras through Facebook's
service, the more likely con own wallet, Calibra, their
artists will target it. identities will be verified to
"The regulations haven't This Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, photo shows the Apple Pay app on an iPhone in New York. help guard against fraud.
caught up with these tech- Associated Press But well before the curren-
nology capabilities," said Apple Cash, are still figur- senger call, which I found be devastated. cy's launch, scammers are
Krista Tedder, head of ing out how to deal with comforting, though my Tedder said that if more already trying to sell fake
fraud management at the fraud, experts say. Others, partner later pointed out it people reported these libras.
advisory firm Javelin Strat- like Facebook's proposed was a false sense of secu- scams, it could better in- In the words of Ariana
egy & Research. Libra currency, are on the rity. form government agencies Grande, I have "learned
With credit cards, a federal horizon. "These payment The biggest red flag I ig- tasked with tracking, and in from the pain." Fortunately,
law caps your liability at systems should carry a big nored was the scammer's turn, creating solutions and I'll be able to see her sing
$50, and most companies red flag that says you're insistence on using Apple policies for these types of that very line next week in
go further with zero-liability not protected," said Avivah Cash, a payment meth- crimes. New York, as she added
policies. Debit cards typi- Litan, a senior analyst at od I was unfamiliar with. Experts also say consumers more concert dates after
cally offer similar protec- Gartner. "I never use them Launched in 2017, Apple are typically unaware what I was scammed. I bought
tions if you report the fraud because I know of all the Cash lets iPhone users is and isn't protected. Litan two tickets through Ticket-
immediately. In addition, perils." send money to each other said she believes the gov- master. Though fees get
banks go through a series Western Union and PayPal, through Apple's Messag- ernment should do more to expensive, I now realize
of verifications before let- which also owns Venmo, es app. Money you send educate people. I'm paying for peace of
ting someone open an ac- declined comment on their comes out of your bank ac- There are some hopeful mind.q
count. But digital payment fraud-protection policies. count. Money you get can
services work more like Apple also declined to be spent at merchants that California discloses probe on
cash. comment, but offers online take Apple Pay or moved
When fraud occurs, it's as tips that warn, "If you're not back to a bank account. Facebook privacy practices
though someone took off sure about their identity, Five minutes after I sent $75
with your $20 bill. don't send the payment." through Apple Cash, the By TALI ARBEL Facebook "broadly refuses
Because such services To be fair, my phone scammer's Facebook ac- AP Technology Writer to answer the interroga-
aren't bound by the same warned me to use Apple count disappeared, and so California attorney general tories or comply with the
regulations as credit and Cash only with people I did all my ways of contact- says he has been investi- subpoena," the filing said,
debit cards, it's up to indi- knew, but I ignored that in ing him. gating Facebook's privacy adding that the company
vidual companies to offer my desperation to get the Since then, I've felt guilty practices since 2018. has refused to search the
protections themselves. tickets. I wrongly assumed and embarrassed that I fell Attorney General Xavier emails of top executives
Experts say Western Union, that because Apple Cash for it, angry that companies Becerra offered few details Mark Zuckerberg and Sher-
which has been offering was drawing money from aren't protecting me and about the probe and said yl Sandberg in response to
money transfers long be- my debit card account, I'd sad that I didn't get to go he was disclosing it only be- the second subpoena.
fore smartphones, devotes be protected if anything to the concert. cause his office was mak- Facebook didn't immedi-
a team to monitoring and went wrong. "A lot of people have ing a public court filing to ately respond to a request
validating transactions. As I looked for tickets on- this happen to them and force Facebook to answer for comment.
Tedder said Western Union line for Grande's sold-out blame themselves, and it's subpoenas. The investigation is into
would even call a custom- show in September, some not their fault," Tedder said. According to the filing, Facebook's practices relat-
er if something looks suspi- of the people I spoke to It's not clear how wide- Facebook took a year to ed to privacy, disclosures
cious. clearly were scammers: spread these scams are. fully respond to an initial and third-party access to
"They really treat every They wouldn't send pictures The Department of Justice subpoena in June 2018 re- user data. The state is look-
transaction as a potential of their tickets. Their social found only 15% of all fraud lated to the Cambridge ing into whether Facebook
risk," Tedder said. media account seemed victims report it to law en- Analytica scandal. The at- violated California law
A more recent service, Pay- too new to be real. forcement. The FBI says torney general then asked by deceiving users and
Pal, offers reimbursements But one person had a plau- while it's unclear why so for more information, in- misrepresenting privacy
when merchants ship dam- sible story about just want- few people report fraud, cluding communications practices. Officials say the
aged or counterfeit items, ing to get some money many of the complaints among executives related probe began in early 2018
but digital money transfers back for a show he couldn't they do receive show vic- to developers' access to as a response to the Cam-
aren't covered. attend. We talked twice tims were embarrassed or user data and privacy-re- bridge Analytica scandal
The newest ones, including through a Facebook Mes- worried their family would lated news stories. but has expanded. q