The business community in Michigan’s Great Southwest is being alerted to an overtly aggressive scam currently being employed against downtown merchants in the St. Joseph central business district and beyond.
Edgewater Bank President Rick Dyer issued a “Scam Alert” Tuesday afternoon warning merchants to be aware that somebody or potentially a group of people is responsible for trying to convince local businesses that they need to resolve issues with credit card processing equipment by replacing faulty gear with new systems. Here is what Dyer’s alert says:
**SCAM ALERT**
We have recently learned that there is an individual, or possibly a group, that has made contact with local merchants insisting that they need to change their merchant processing (credit/debit card) company and equipment because their provider is “overcharging and being investigated”. They have used the actual name of the company’s merchant processing provider on the phone call, but that is info that can easily be obtained so it is not a reason to believe the call. The calls are reported to be “aggressive” in nature with insistence that the merchant make changes immediately.
DO NOT BELIEVE THE CALLS! This is a 100% fraud, or some unscrupulous salesperson for another merchant processing firm trying to get business through scare and panic tactics.
Do not give out any info. Do not provide them with serial numbers from processing equipment. Do not make any changes. It appears there is an attempt to get confidential information to potentially redirect funds.
A call directly to a company’s merchant processing company, using the phone number originally provided by the company, not given on the phone by the person calling, should verify that nothing is wrong and no changes are necessary.
Several St. Joseph Today member merchants have confirmed receipt of the aggressive calls and demand for action, but fortunately, so far nobody seems to have fallen for the scheme regardless of where it is coming from or how strident the call gets.
The business community is encouraged to remain vigilant and educate all staff members regarding the potential for receipt of additional calls going forward and the need to stand firm.
