'Zombie' Credit Cards? UMass Study Uncovers Fraud Risk

Expired credit cards revived by researchers to make unauthorized payments

Researchers affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Amherst have found that you can get payments out of certain expired contactless credit cards, a process detailed at the recent USENIX Security 2026 conference. Raja Hasnain Anwar, Gerard DeCunha, and Muhammad Taqi Raza describe their findings in a paper titled "Zombie Cards Back Online: Reviving Expired Credit Cards for Contactless Payments." Credit cards, the authors explain in their p…

When zombie credit cards attack—a loophole that can reanimate expired cards

A new security loophole discovered by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst can bring some expired credit cards back to life. If stolen, these "zombie credit cards" could leave cardholders vulnerable to ...

'Zombie' credit cards? UMass study uncovers fraud risk

Researchers at UMass have discovered a security loophole that could allow some expired credit cards to be used fraudulently, even after a replacement card has been issued.