Aldi scam website warning

A warning to everyone who loves a bargain. I wanted to share something that happened to one of my friends recently, because it’s a reminder of just how convincing scam websites can be.

They thought they were buying garden utensils from Aldi. The first warning sign was that the website wouldn’t accept her debit card and asked for a credit card instead.

She was in a hurry, so didn’t think too much of it. She were then asked to approve the transaction through their banking app, which they did.

When no order confirmation arrived, she became suspicious. She checked her spam folder, spotted a warning on the email and decided to investigate further.

She immediately froze their card and contacted their bank, who initially confirmed that no money had been taken. Phew, but the relief was short lived.

Minutes later, she received a text from their bank about unusual activity. She asked ChatGPT to help and it returned this confirming that the site was scam – an easy mistake to make.

It turned out that when she’d approved what they thought was a payment, she’d actually authorised the scammers to add their card to Apple Pay.

Within 15 minutes, thousands of pounds worth of transactions had been attempted. Thankfully, the bank declined most of them, but four payments of £96.50 went through.

Because the transactions involved Apple Pay, the bank couldn’t immediately reverse them and had to raise a dispute.

Fortunately, after around four days, all the money was refunded.

The bank’s fraud team advised my friend to limit the number of cards in their Apple Wallet and consider using a separate account or card with a small balance for everyday spending.

The biggest lesson here is not to rush when buying online, particularly when you’ve spotted what looks like a fantastic deal.

Always check the website address, be cautious if something unusual happens during payment and read carefully what you’re being asked to authorise through your banking app.

Scam websites are becoming increasingly convincing, and even people who are normally very careful can get caught out.

I’m sharing this because it could save someone else from going through the same experience.

A bargain is only a bargain if you’re buying from somewhere genuine.