WESTFIELD – Younger workers at stores which offer money transfer services or gift cards seem to be the targets of a recent scam involving callers who ask them to ‘test’ their machines.
Det. Todd Edwards of the financial crimes unit of the Detective Bureau reports that at least two local stores have encountered a scam in which a caller purports to be calling from Western Union or a similar company and reports a problem with the equipment which is used for money transfers.
Edwards said that the caller will ask the clerk to make a ‘test transaction’ to check the equipment and a helpful clerk will often comply with the apparently legitimate request, little realizing that they are actually effecting a money transfer when they follow the caller’s instructions.
“The clerk thinks it’s Western Union (calling) and it doesn’t count but it’s an actual transaction,” Edwards said, and actual money is transferred to the caller.
He said that the callers “know how the machine works and they spoof the caller ID,” so the call appears to be coming from a legitimate company when their victims helpfully comply.
“They (the scammers) try to call when there’s not a manager (on duty) and they try to get a kid,” who is working without direct supervision, Edwards said.
He said that what they ask a young clerk to do is almost always against store policy but said “they don’t know, they’re kids so they believe what they’re told.” He said that, since the caller ID shows a familiar company, the caller is familiar with the equipment they are using and walks them through the transaction, the call seems legitimate to inexperienced workers and they follow instructions that seem legitimate.
Edwards said that the scammers do not limit themselves to actual cash transfer services but, when a fraudulent caller reaches a compliant worker, they can take advantage of gift cards, too.
An employee may be told that there have been reports that gift cards purchased by the store have been improperly transferred and the clerk may be asked to ‘test’ that procedure as well.
Once the clerk is led thought the gift card purchase process, he is induced to scratch of the film covering the vital code on the card and tell them the hidden code revealed. Then, the scammer can access the funds assigned to the gift card and leave no trail when the fraud is discovered.
