Marathon County Sheriff's Department Warns of Gift Card Scam

Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 -- 8:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) -The Marathon County Sheriff's Office says a recent gift card scam should serve as a reminder to retail managers everywhere to train employees to spot something that seems out of place.

Public Information officer Sara Severson says the success rate of the "cash button" scam relies heavily on a new or untrained checker pressing the wrong button to finalize the transaction. "They had convinced the store clerk that she needed to press the cash button on the cash register versus running it as a typical credit card transaction."

That allowed the gift cards to be activated without actually being paid for, because the scammers had convinced her the fake card they had entered was a cash-currency card, and no cash was going into the store till. Severson says that should have been a warning sign.

"Typically, if something seems odd, it seems out of sorts, it conflicts with your protocols, that's time to take a look, contact a supervisor, and better explore what's going on."

She says losses like this could have been prevented through a combination of proper training and reinforcement of policies and procedures- especially for temporary or "seasonal" workers. "Certainly this is an opportunity for managers and business owners to educate their staff."

She says this should serve as a reminder of the importance of proper training and asking questions if things seem off. "Whether that be retail establishments, convenience stores, restaurants, and the like on what that protocol is."

The scammers had the clerk activate nearly 30 Visa gift cards for 890 dollars each using a fake credit card, which they said was a special cash currency card. So when the clerk pressed the cash transaction button, it allowed the card to activate without an actual payment.

The Germantown convince store lost nearly 25 thousand dollars in the scheme- investigators say the suspects were staying at a nearby hotel, but the room was empty when they got there, meaning they've likely skipped town.

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