Nampa, IDAHO (CBS2) – The Nampa Police Department issued a news release saying Investigators from the Department are hoping to identify credit card fraud victims of a large-scale, country-wide (possibly beyond the United States of America) fraud ring. Nampa Police say that once Treasure Valley Law Enforcement Agencies started collaborating and investigating these frauds, the case implications started to mushroom from local fraud to money laundering, where proceeds are being sent overseas, to drug trafficking, human trafficking, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and illegal wildlife trafficking.
Nampa Police say they are not sure how the suspects are gaining access to the victim’s credit cards. There is a growing fraud scheme, “ghost tapping”, that scammers are using to access victims’ credit cards. Police say this is possibly occurring in these instances. “Ghost tapping” uses stolen credit card details in Apple Pay or Google Pay, then remotely relays the tap signal over the internet to a ‘mule’ at a store, allowing them to make high-value purchases that appear completely legitimate. Police say the app used by these criminals obscures the actual credit card number, making it harder for investigators to link a victim to a particular crime. Police say victims still have their physical credit cards while suspects use the stolen card information to make purchases, which also affects how victims are alerted. So far, local investigators have not been able to identify a common theme among the victims in the fraud cases
Nampa Police say the suspects in these cases started operating in the Treasure Valley on January 28, 2026, and the most recent action was identified approximately one week ago. Police say some of the suspects have been arrested and are in local jails facing charges in both Ada and Canyon Counties. Several other suspects have been contacted by local law enforcement following reports of suspicious activity from retailers. At the time of contact, police say they were unable to arrest the suspects because we had not yet confirmed any victims. Police say they have identified many of the individuals involved, and believe they are part of a large, organized crime syndicate operating from Oregon to Delaware…