Your Dead Visa Card Isn't Actually Dead
Turns out tossing your expired Visa in the trash doesn't kill it. Researchers at UMass Amherst, presenting at Usenix last week, found a flaw letting fraudsters 'zombify' expired Visa cards by relaying their data through two phones to make live contactless payments. Visa's system quietly outsources the expiration check to your bank, and some banks just... don't check. Translation: that dumpster-diving villain trope is now a legit fraud strategy.
Nothing says 2026 like your garbage becoming a payment terminal.