Apple Pay prank irritates victim, TikTok prankster gets what they deserve
A TikTok video maker filmed a prank of pretending to take cash from people's iPhones using Tap to Pay. It didn't end well for the prankster.
Police arrest a TikTok prankster in London -- image credit: Daily Mail
Whether it's Tap to Pay on iPhone when you're with a merchant, or you're just paying a friend who also has an iPhone, there is a distinctive sound. That sound, but not the actual payment, is now central to what's claimed to be an increasingly common prank of pretending to take money from strangers.
The prankster holds their iPhone close to the stranger's one, plays the sound, and then typically thanks that person for their generous donation. There's usually someone else filming all of this for a hilarious TikTok video -- but there isn't usually a police presence nearby.
@bku.backup Notification prank got him arrested #news #breakingnews #latest #britain #fyppp original sound - BKU Backup
According to the UK's Daily Mail, that's what happened to one such TikTok user in London. He initially claimed to take ten thousand pounds (approximately $13,500) from a man walking by the River Thames, although then said it was only 1,000 pounds. The man grabbed him by the arm, however, and another stranger joined in to hold him back, while both looked around for police.
Two plainsclothes police officers then took over and, upon the TikTok man resisting arrest, handcuffed him. One officer informed the prankster that he was now going to be searched for evidence of articles being used in suspected fraud.
Throughout the process, the incident was filmed by the TikTok user's friend, who inanely keeps asking if he should carry on recording. It's TikTok. They obviously did.
There is no detail of what subsequently happened to the TikTok pair, and we couldn't find anything this morning. This being the Daily Mail, there is no explanation of how the prank works, there isn't even any detail of when this happened, and the publication got the 10,000 amount wrong.
Apple Pay won't let money be taken
London's Evening Standard has more of an explanation along with other examples from across the city. It's important to note that no actual money is taken in these pranks, and Apple Pay requires the payer to confirm any transactions before they happen.
What this prankster was pretending to do was use Apple's Tap to Cash, but this requires Apple Cash -- which is not available in the UK. The UK and most of Europe does have the similar Tap to Pay on iPhone, but that's expressly for paying merchants, who even then must be using particular payment apps.
In the US where Tap to Cash is available, there are still multiple steps involved. The user who wants to pay someone must first open either Messages or Apple Wallet.
To pay using Messages, the user has to hold their iPhone near the recipient's and then the simplest route is to:
- Start or continue a Messages conversation with the person
- Tap the plus icon, then tap Apple Cash
- Then enter the amount to send
- Tap Send
- Double-click the iPhone's side button to pay
- Confirm the payment with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode
As well as these basic steps, there are options along the way for changing the payment card -- but that's not that relevant to the prank at hand, here.
And, the prank can't drain from Apple Cash either.
- In the Apple Wallet app, tap the Apple Cash card
- Choose Send
- Select the recipient and tap Next
- Enter the amount
- Tap Send and confirm it
- Double-click the iPhone's side button to pay
- Confirm the payment with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode
Seriously, though, it was funny when Steve Jobs placed the first-ever prank call on an iPhone, but it gets very old, very quickly.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
What you call "technology" isn't technology at all. It's definitely a result of current technology that can allow anyone with an internet connected smartphone to get attention actively trying to ruin people's days and even lives, but it's just harassment. The real question is why you think it's so entertaining to see people make fun of and hurt others online for attention. To quote Joey Swoll, "You need to better! Mind your own business."
Personally, I look forward to more FAFO moments in the world. As the saying goes, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
PS: On the notion of technology, I would argue that the younger generations have considerably less technological knowledge than the older generations. What you call technology is really just using an app... and one you didn't write. The older generations actually had to know how to fix things. I'm not a boomer and I'm not Gen Z, but I did have the privilege of learning from great people who came before me on how to understand how machine works. What nearly all people seem to fail to understand — and not just 20yo pranksters with severe alopecia — is that technology is considerably more widespread and diverse than the latest shiny object being offered up by Apple or Google. Granted, it's not the younger generations's fault that the microchip has become omnipresent in products that never had that previously and so intricate that it's not an easy or even a reasonable task to replace such small components, but it doesn't mean that you understand technology better... you just understand how to use different technology and that all comes down exposure and nothing else.
So what do I mean by that? Well, technology is defined as "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes." That means that learning when, where, how to plant a crop is a technology being applied — and that's even before we get to tools that were made to make it easier. Or, a branch of that being animal husbandry, were we're bred animals to product specific traits such and meat, milk, strength. These are technologies that most people will never fully grasp — myself included — but you should understand that technology is more than a consumer electronic you use to get negative attention.
Very few non-nerds can identify each and every apple model of iPad, MacBook or Phone. I would not dare to try.