Cardi B has had enough. The Grammy Award-winning rapper took to Instagram Live this week to announce that her American Express card had been stolen and used for more than $60,000 in fraudulent purchases, and that the people responsible should start preparing for the consequences.
The card went missing approximately two weeks ago. By the time anyone noticed, four men had already charged $40,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue and another $20,000 at an Apple Store before the account was frozen.
How Cardi B found out
The way Cardi B discovered the fraud says as much about how she manages her money as it does about the alleged theft. Her American Express account is linked directly to her phone, generating an instant notification every time the card is used regardless of the transaction size. She told her audience that it doesn’t matter whether she’s buying something at a corner store or online. If the card moves, her phone moves with it.
When the Saks notification came through, she initially wondered whether someone on her tour team had made the purchase. She had been on the road for her Little Miss Drama tour and hadn’t been spending much. The doubt didn’t last long. A second transaction cleared 35 minutes later from an Apple Store, and at that point the picture became clear.
Cardi B reveals on her latest Instagram live session that four men stole her AMEX card and spent near $70K from it 😭
She says she knows who they are and they are going to jail.
pic.twitter.com/5XIznuOwKS— Red Media (@RedMedia_us) April 6, 2026
She also noted that she had not even reached her accountant before her accountant reached her. The firm monitors the same account activity and flagged the unusual transactions independently, telling Cardi B that something was clearly off. The card was cancelled immediately and both retailers were notified.
Cardi B says she has the footage
The live video drew more than 24,000 viewers at its peak and grew sharper in tone as it continued. Cardi B told her audience she had obtained surveillance footage from multiple locations, including images of the men attempting to withdraw cash from an ATM, moving through Saks, and inside the Apple Store. She gave physical descriptions of the alleged suspects but said her security team advised against releasing photos publicly given that a police investigation is underway.
Her position on the matter was unambiguous. She said the men would be going to prison and that she planned to recover every dollar. She made clear that she watches her finances closely regardless of what she earns, a point she has made publicly before. In a 2024 interview with Complex, she put her net worth above $88 million and described herself as someone who does not let a single dollar go unaccounted for. That mindset, she suggested, is precisely why the fraud was caught as quickly as it was.
She also addressed the alleged thieves directly during the broadcast, telling them she had clear images of each of them at every location and that the outcome was no longer a matter of if but when.
Credit card fraud is a growing problem
Cardi B’s experience reflects a pattern that financial institutions have been watching closely. According to UK Finance, fraudulent spending on UK-issued debit and credit cards rose sharply in the first half of 2025. There were 220,000 reported cases of lost or stolen cards used for unauthorized purchases during that period, totaling £52 million in losses. Fraud involving stolen card details used for online purchases climbed 22% over the same stretch, resulting in £215.4 million in additional losses.
Whether arrests follow quickly will depend on the strength of the surveillance evidence and the pace of the ongoing investigation. Cardi B, born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar and best known for the hits Bodak Yellow, I Like It, and WAP, has made clear she has no intention of letting this resolve quietly. No arrests have been publicly confirmed at this time.
