TX-NFC: Ghost Tap — Can Your Bank Catch Fraud From a Card That Never Left Your Pocket?

Contactless payments have become such a routine part of everyday life that we rarely think twice about how they are secured. For decades, every contactless transaction has been built on the assumption that your card needs to be physically present to make the purchase.

Now, there is one Chinese-language Fraud-as-a-Service operation that has found a way to break that assumption. First uncovered by Group-IB researchers, TX-NFC relays stolen card data to a fraudster’s device and executes a transaction at a physical point-of-sale terminal, all with the victim’s card in an entirely different country. TX-NFC is more than a novel fraud technique; it’s a commercial criminal ecosystem of social engineering operators, Telegram marketplaces and money mules operating in the shadows to turn stolen credentials into profit at scale.

In this episode, hosts Gary Ruddell and former INTERPOL Director of Cybercrime Craig Jones are joined by Neira Jones, an independent advisor, board-level strategist, and international expert in payments, fraud, and cybersecurity. Together, they trace the criminal supply chain behind TX-NFC, explore why traditional fraud controls struggle to detect it, and discuss what we can do to ensure our money stays safe when proximity can no longer protect us.

By understanding who these actors are and how they operate, you can better anticipate threats and protect yourself in an increasingly hostile digital world.

Subscribe to learn more about Group-IB’s top 10 Masked Actors  – and stay one step ahead in the fight against cybercrime.