John Culatto
POLICE officers visited dozens of businesses on Gibraltar’s Main Street to raise awareness about credit card scam that has led to local companies losing over £100,000 in the last three years.
The Royal Gibraltar Police warned shop-workers how the scam known as Card Not Present Fraud (CNPF) leads to massive losses often using groups of two to three people.
Detective Constable Emily Bright explained to businesses how the fraudsters would usually try to use multiple cards and often have their expensive items declined several times.
They would often rush or distract the cashier, constantly be on their phone and use non-UK issued bankcards.
“The fraudster will often take control of the Point of Sale (POS) machine and manually enter the details of the fraudulent bankcard by selecting the ‘Card Not Present’ option,” DCI Bright said.
“The payment is then authorised, and the fraudsters leave the store with the goods.”
She said shops would only discover the fraud once they got a Chargeback Letter from the issuer of the card telling them the cardholder did not give the purchase the go-ahead.
The company would then have to pay for the usually expensive products themselves.
“Usually fraudsters would travel to Gibraltar in small groups of 2-3 persons in order to target local retailers,” DCI Bright continued.
“However, we have also received reports where these fraudsters are conducting these purchases over the telephone with a view to collect the items purchased at a later date,” she added.
The Gibraltar police campaign is using a specially designed poster to put up at businesses that highlights the suspicious behaviour that can lead to the scam.
With the Rock being a popular location for duty-free shopping, it often attracts criminals looking to make a quick buck.
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