Inside the Chinese fraud rings stealing billions from banks and retailers - CNBC
Organized crime rings are utilizing stolen credit card data and remote coaching to commit large-scale retail fraud at self-checkout kiosks. These digital theft operations are estimated to cost retailers up to $1 billion annually by exploiting vulnerabilities in payment systems.
Why it matters
The shift from physical shoplifting to digital-assisted retail fraud represents a growing challenge for corporate asset protection and law enforcement.
When a man in a black Air Jordan T-shirt walked up to a self-checkout kiosk at a Louisiana Lowe's last spring, he looked like any other customer.
Over the course of about seven minutes, he methodically rang up different gift cards for $95 each, using his phone to tap-to-pay for each card as a red-vested associate circled nearby, surveillance video showed.
Unknown to the employee, the man was part of a sprawling Chinese crime ring, using stolen credit cards to buy the gift cards while a Southeast Asian scam compound coached him through each transaction through the wireless headphones in his ears, police say.
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