Due Diligence Nets Big Payoff
After further investigation, it was determined that just over $77,000 over a five-month period had gone into the wrong American Express Service Establishment Number and checking account. The restaurant owners, who didn’t speak English very well, had wondered why they were struggling to pay their bills, but hadn’t questioned why the American Express money wasn’t being deposited into their account.
After completing a lengthy accounting investigation and presenting it to American Express, we were able to show the $77,000 rightfully belonged to our merchant. American Express deposited the money into their account.
The owners were so elated, they offered to send four of us on an all-expense paid trip to Japan. We kindly declined, telling them it was a privilege to serve them. A month later, the owner called again and said, “You don’t seem to understand, we want to do something for you! Please accept our gratitude!” My family and I went on a wonderful seven-day Caribbean cruise!
Does your credit card processor check in with you to ensure nothing’s going awry with your deposits?
Fraud Prevention 101
We contacted each business where the alleged fraud occurred and subpoenaed video records to identify the server conducting the transactions. Once we matched those up with the time and date of the transactions from the restaurant guests’ statements, we had our suspect.
We staged a banquet and had the server/suspect come in to set it up. When he arrived, the Secret Service and BANCard Solutions were there, and he was arrested for skimming credit cards using a pager-like device.
The server subsequently gave up the name of the person who gave him the skimming device, and she was also arrested. Both of them are serving jail sentences for credit card fraud.
Would your credit card processor have responded like we did…or simply suggest you contact the police?
