Scammers Will Use Any Means To Separate You From Your Money.
One Of The Latest Scams Involved Farm Supply Stores.
Outlets Across The North Have Lost Thousands Of Dollars As The Result of A Very Sophisticated Credit Card Scam.
Smithers Feed And Bulkley Valley Home Centre In Telkwa Have Both Been Targeted. Doug Veenstra Is A Co-Owner Of The Smithers Store And Says They Are Out $650 And there Isn’t Really Anything They Can Do To Recoup The Money.
This Past Fall A Woman Made An Attempt To Make A Purchase By Tapping With Her Phone, But It Didn’t Go Through So, She Entered A Credit Card Number. She Made Additional Purchases. After She Loaded Them Into Her Car, She Went Back Into The Store To Buy More Stuff. About A Month Later The Store Was Informed That A Chargeback Had Occurred. That’s When The Buyer Disputes Their Purchases And Requests A Reversal Of The Amount Paid. But Veenstra Found Out The Credit Card Was Stolen From A Woman In The Lower Mainland. It’s Believed The Same Woman Involved In The Smithers Fraud Has Also Used The Same Scheme In Other Northern Farm Supply Stores In The North.
Veenstrat Says There Was Nothing Unusual About People Making Credit Card Purchases So, It Didn’t Raise Any Red Flags. In His 20 Years With The Store He Says He Has Never Witnessed A Scam Like This One. He Says They Have Never Asked For A Purchaser To Provide Their Id Because They Trusted Their Customers…That Policy Has Changed.
Businesses Are Required When Using A Terminal Provided By Moneris To Request Id. Because Smithers Failed To Ask For Id, They Won’t Be Compensated For Their Loss.
Two Other Farm Supply Outlets Have Also Been Targets. P And B Feed And Needs In Burns Lake Were Scammed For About $1,100 And The Bulkley Valley Home Centre In Houston Saw A Scammer Take Them For A Significant Amount Of Money When A Customer Stole $5,000 Worth Of Gate And Fence Posts..
All Of The Businesses Involved Have Reported To Police The Same Description Of A Woman In Her 30’s Or 40’s, Heavy Build, Long Brown Hair And Black Rimmed Glasses. In Most Of The Descriptions She Was Carrying A Large Purse Of A Backpack. All Of The Targets Stores Noted The Purchases Were For Things That Didn’t Raise Any Eyebrows. Because Feed Was Involved, Police Suspect The Fraudster Is Local To The Area.
Both Smithers And New Hazelton Detachments Have Open Investigations Into The Matter And Are Cautioning Any Other Like Businesses To Be Wary And Make Sure They Get The Customers Id.
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