Disney World Guest Drops Apple Watch on Ride, Gets $40,000 in Credit Card Charges
A Disney World guest accidentally dropped their Apple Watch on a ride and it somehow resulted in $40,000 worth of fraudulent credit card charges.
According to Orange County Sheriff’s Office per Disney Tips, the incident took place on April 13 in EPCOT on The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction. During the ride, guests are inside clam shells where they are taken "under the sea" via the Omnimover vehicle which tilts guests backward as if they were sinking into the sea.
During that specific moment on the ride, a woman's Apple Hermes Watch (which is worth over $1,000), fell off of her wrist onto the pathway below the Omnimover vehicle, where they could see it but not reach it. Her husband jumped off the ride while it was in motion in an attempt to retrieve it, which is a violation of Disney's safety guidelines.
Cast Members stopped the ride and had the man get back into the ride vehicle. According to the filing, the cast member told the guests that they would retrieve it and be delivered to their hotel at the Contemporary Resort. After they returned to their resort and it was not there, the woman filed a police report.
The money came into play when the woman had numerous credit cards linked to her watch. One of the cards was an American Express that had an unlimited credit line. During this time, the unidentified woman got several fraud alerts on her phone for purchases made through her Amex card, which was also connected to her watch.
According to the sheriff's report, over $40,000 worth of charges were racked up by the finder of the watch that day, however, it is unclear what the person spent the money on. She quickly canceled her credit cards and plans to bring the anonymous finder to court. They plan to check the charges and the shops' security cameras to discover who this person was.