Fraudulent payments

Retailers need to be extremely vigilant in accepting payment for merchandise or making refunds available for returned merchandise in the lead up to Christmas.

This week we have been advised on two major incidents involving merchandise sales.

In the first instance bank cheques were purchased from a trading bank by unknown persons for minimal values. These values were then changed to much larger amounts and the cheques were cashed in retail stores to purchase goods or vouchers.

In another case a shopper asks for a refund without a receipt, when told that they must have their receipt, they say the refund has been approved by head office.  The store then receives a bogus call made from external sources authorising refunds for EFT purchases.

This is not the first time that such problems have occurred.

However, we do exhort members to make appropriate checks notwithstanding that the industry will be busy in dealing with general consumer demands in the remaining weeks trading prior to Christmas.