Police Warning Merchants About Phone Credit Card Scam

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Windsor Police say that there has been a recent increase in complaints involving fraudulent credit card use.

They say that the common factor in these cases is the fact that a business has accepted a credit card number, provided their product to the prospective customer, and then later discovered the provided credit card information was invalid.

The scam has various versions, but essentially a prospective customer telephones a business requesting to purchase an item. Often times the product is some sort of electronics.

The prospective customer provides some variation of a fraudulent or invalid credit card number.

The prospective customer then arranges to pick up the item either in person, or in some instances they arrange a cab to pick up the item – even then arranging to have the cab deliver the product to a courier company which may then send the product anywhere in the world.

After providing the item to the prospective customer, the merchant later discovers that the provided credit card information was invalid.

Windsor Police are reminding merchants to use caution when accepting credit card information over the telephone for transactions.

When a customer does attend to pick up the item when only a credit card number was provided over the phone, consider documenting their proven identity. Video surveillance in the business, suspect physical descriptions, involved licence plates, can all assist with an investigation should the transaction prove to be fraudulent.