Two Vernon businesses are out thousands of dollars after thieves concocted a plan to steal motor vehicles with credit cards.
The scheme started on August 27, when, according to the Vernon Police Department, Marquis Daniels and Quenisha Smith executed their plan to steal a go-kart and dirtbike from Scooter Pros by creating their own fake credit card.
Police said the pair called the Vernon business and paid for the dirtbike and go-kart over the phone.
It’s a transaction that cost the local business $10,000.
Kyle Jay is the owner of Scooter Pros, one of the recent business owners targeted in the fake credit card scandal.
“We work every day and realize that there people out there that are doing that to business like us,” said Jay. “It could take months for us to recoup.”
Just a week later, Barron Dandridge performed a similar act at Scranton Power Sports, according to police.
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Phil Wilson is Scranton’s Power Sports’ owner and is looking to bounce back from the $4,000 loss.
“I have all of my employees here and they work hard for their paychecks,” said Wilson. “It’s frustrating when someone tries to scam me and are looking to scam someone else for the credit card,”
Police said all of the data used in the cases are compromised through data breaches and stored on the dark web.
“These transactions are going through and it's being accepted,” said Lt. William Meier of the Vernon Police Department. "Business owners are getting a fraudulent card back 10-12 days later by the credit card company.”
Jay is warning other business owners to look out for suspicious activity.
“You should be on alert when someone looks to come at closing time and rush the process,” said Jay. “I would also advise you to have any customer out of state come in to your business and manually use their card and double check their credit card and ID.”
Police said there are a few steps to ensure your personal information is secure.
“I would advise everyone to double check their statement for any fraudulent activity,” Meier said. “A few companies offer push alerts to warn you of any suspicious activity.”
Wilson is taking preventative measures to avoid any other incidents.
“We only allow a certain limit that we run on credit cards and our employees have to get written approval from myself or another manager,” he said.
Police said you can also sign up for two-factor authorization on your phone, as an extra security step to better protect all of your personal information.
