Scammers turn to ‘ghost-tapping’ retail fraud to launder funds

Recorded Future researchers describe a regional money-laundering and retail-fraud scheme dubbed “ghost-tapping,” where stolen payment card details and intercepted OTPs are uploaded to burner phones and sold on Telegram to syndicates that hire mules to buy luxury goods for resale; the report highlights use of phishing, social engineering, mobile malware, and decentralized criminal marketplaces (Huione, Xinbi, Tudou), cites arrests and losses (e.g., 656 reports and ~$1.2M in Singapore), and warns of the growing professionalization and geographic expansion of these operations.