Businesses in Kansas City are targets of a fraud game that keeps credit card purchases from going through while the merchant thinks they have.
Police says the scam involves using aluminum foil to cover the satellite dish used to transmit credit card transactions.
Fraud squad Sergeant Rob Rickett said the foil fools the computer system into thinking transactions are being recorded. He says the people wrapping the satellites in foil may only be part of the problem.
“They go in and do the original leg work and then let their friends know, ‘Hey go, make purchases this location,’” says Rickett. “And what concerns us is we don’t know how many victims we have out there.”
At least three Kansas City businesses have been hit since this weekend. In one case fraud cost the store $16 hundred worth of cigarettes.
Business owners are being urged to check their satellite dishes throughout the day.