Scam artists targeting Key West businesses

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Local businesses are being warned to watch out for a professionally-dressed woman identifying herself as either a First State Bank employee or “from the bank” and asking for access to credit card terminals.

 

At least four and possibly five local businesses have been the target of the fraud, although none allowed the woman to “re-program” their terminals. Angie Walterson, assistant vice president at First State Bank, said there were one or two women involved, wearing “uniform-like” clothing with no identifying logos. Each of the targeted businesses was located on Duval Street.

 

“We were contacted by four customers. Each had a similar situation,” Walterson said, adding that none of the businesses had fallen for the scam.

 

The bank began contacting its customers on Friday to warn them about the fraud attempt. It also worked with the Key West Chamber of Commerce to issue an email blast to its members on Friday and Monday.

 

One of the targeted businesses was SoDu Gallery, 110 2B Duval St. Employee Lainie Davia was working about three weeks ago when a Cuban or Latin-appearing woman approximately five feet, six inches tall and in her late 20s came in. Davia said the woman interrupted a customer speaking to Davia and said she was from the First State Bank corporate office in Miami. She asked to re-program the gallery’s credit card terminal so that all card charges would go directly to the bank instead of a “middleman.”

 

Davia said she asked the woman to wait while she finished speaking with the customer. After about one minute, the woman left the gallery while Davia was still with the customer, without accessing the credit card terminal.

 

“Hindsight is 20/20 but I think she wanted to get to our terminal to put a reader on it,” Davia, referring to a device that would have let the scam artists record any credit card number entered into the terminal. “I doubt she got very far. She was very unprofessional.”

 

Davia immediately called First State Bank and ascertained that no one had been sent to the gallery. Indeed, First State Bank of the Florida Keys does not have an office in Miami.

 

First State Bank’s Walterson said that four of its customers called the bank on Friday to report similar incidents. However, the female scam artist didn’t mention First State Bank but said she was a “bank employee” there to reprogram the credit card terminal. Walterson said anyone having a similar experience should immediately call the Key West Police Department.

 

“That’s one of the advantages of working with a local bank. You know who you’re dealing with. The same person who services your account is the one you opened the account with,” she said.

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