Salmon Arm businesses asked to be cautious with credit card payments following cash back and refund scam
SALMON ARM, B.C. — RCMP are advising business in Salmon Arm and area to be extra cautious when accepting credit card payments.
Salmon Arm RCMP say they received one report on March 12 where a woman manually entered a credit card number at a restaurant and allegedly tipped $100 by mistake. She then asked for $80 cash back on a $15 meal.
In a news release issued Wednesday (March 19), RCMP say the restaurant staff refused the cash back request and refunded the credit card back. The woman then reportedly purchased a $300 gift card, which was also later refunded back to the card.
“Allowing customers to manually enter credit card information, especially for a credit card that is not on their person, is highly suspicious and enables the use of stolen credit card numbers,” RCMP state. “All credit cards should have the owner’s name on the card and can be cross checked against a second piece of identification. Customers asking for large cash refunds should be treated highly suspicious and should only be refunded back to the credit card.”
