Ghost tapping scam exposed: How thieves are charging your card without you knowing

May 25, 2026 – Published on Boston 25 News

Your credit card never leaves your pocket…but somehow, your money does. It’s called ghost tapping. A proximity-based scam that uses the same tap-to-pay technology you see at legitimate businesses every day to steal from you.

Using cheap, easy-to-buy card readers, thieves can trigger small wireless transactions just by getting close enough to your wallet or phone. No swipe. No PIN. No warning.

The scam relies on proximity and crowded spaces like transit, concerts, or busy sidewalks, where victims may never realize a charge is happening in real time. Insights from cybersecurity firm GuidePoint Security show a 150% surge in ghost tap-related claims over the past year.

“A lot of these transactions are very small numbers just to test to see if that transaction goes through,” said James Chatwani, a cybersecurity advisor for GuidePoint Security. “Then what attackers are doing is adding that to their digital wallets and essentially buying gift cards and doing other types of scams to make a quick transaction out of it, but to take as many dollars as they can in the shortest period of time possible.”

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