NJ shoppers haunted by ‘ghost tapping’ — Thieves steal your money without touching your card

⚠️ A new scam is haunting New Jersey shoppers and draining accounts.

📱 Fraudsters can steal your card info just by standing near you.

💳 One NJ expert says skip “tap-to-pay” and go back to old-school swiping.

The latest credit card scam is scary, with a Halloween-sounding name that New Jersey residents and those around the country need to be aware of, according to The Better Business Bureau.

It’s called ghost tapping, a tap-to-pay fraud scheme that lets scammers steal money directly from a person’s bank account without any physical contact with a debit or credit card, which is unlike previous scams.

How ‘ghost tapping’ works — and why it’s so dangerous

The cyber-thief just needs to be a few feet from their target, said Paul Oster, president and owner of credit management firm Better Qualified, in Eatontown.

“Scammers are stealing credit cards that a person has in a digital wallet, putting that information into a ghost phone, and then using that ghost phone at point-of-sales retail stores, committing millions of dollars in retail fraud,” Oster said.

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They are taking the digital credit card information by tapping your phone with their concealed-card reader, or ghost phones, especially in crowded places, he added.

“They are literally able to steal the cards in your digital wallet just by standing right next to you,” Oster said, or they ask you to “tap to pay” for some fake product, service, or donation and steal your banking information.

Global scam, local victims — and growing fast

Even scarier is that these cyber thieves are recruiting scammers from other countries.
They pick up these ghost phones, travel to different countries posing as tourists to commit retail fraud, and either they’re bringing the merchandise back to their country or they’re selling them on the black market, Oster explained.

How New Jersey shoppers can protect themselves from ghost tapping

To protect themselves from this widespread ghost tapping scam, Oster urges New Jersey residents not to tap-and-pay when buying something at the store.

Instead, go old school, and either insert or swipe the debit or credit card. Oster said if you tap to pay, and the merchant is part of this scam, they just stole your information.

While tap-to-pay is more convenient than digging through your wallet for your physical card, that puts your personal and financial information in jeopardy.

Expert tips to stay one step ahead of digital thieves

Other ways to protect yourself against ghost tapping is to be vigilant about the merchant. He said if you’re dealing with a merchant you’re not familiar with, then swipe or insert, don’t tap. Always confirm payment details before tapping a card or phone.

That means checking the merchant’s name and the amount on the terminal screen.
Keep debit and credit cards in RFID-blocking sleeves or wallets.

Set up transaction alerts with your bank so you can get real-time notifications for every charge.

Don’t share verification codes with anyone, for any reason, even if it looks official, and continue to protect yourself against emails, texts, social media, and phone calls where scammers are trying to contact you as someone you may know to gain access to your card information, date of birth, last four digits of your social security number, and other personal info.

“I don’t say tap-to-pay anymore. I say it’s tap-to-pray,” Oster quipped.

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