Downtown business owners have issued a warning about a fraud involving gift certificates sold for significantly large dollar amounts to a person representing himself as “Evan.”
The gift certificates are purchased by a credit card that is eventually rejected as fraudulent, with the merchant then left short for the amount of the purchase. The purchaser manually enters the credit card number while appearing to be entering a PIN code.
On two occasions, fraudulently purchased gift certificates for the Salt Spring Inn and Hastings House were later advertised as “for sale” at bargain prices. Both incidents were reported to local RCMP.
Island businesses are cautioned to carefully oversee every credit card transaction to prevent further instances.