26/05/2026
New EFTPOS scam! Warning for business owners....
We have discovered today that we have been scammed through taking a EFTPOS payment, despite being very careful and wary about these deceptions over the last 20 years.
I thought I should warn other business owners of what to be wary of.
A new "customer" phoned us in January and explained that they wanted to prepay for some framing, and that one of their colleagues would come into our shop to finalize the details in the next couple of weeks. We told them the price and they paid over the phone with a credit card. All good so far. Sounded like a local lady- not from a foreign call center...
Then a little while later, she phoned back and explained that she "had used the wrong credit card" to pay for it, and could she use the "company" card to pay? Ok., these things can happen. She asked for me to refund the initial purchase and process the payment on the new card. Seemed fair enough, so I did that.
The "colleague" who was supposed to come in to finalize the order never came. That's strange, I thought, but not the end of the world as we had received payment up front.
Then, 2 months after the initial contact and payment, and with no contact from the "customer", I saw on our bank account that the money had been credited back to their credit card. I checked with our bank about it and they said the card holder had disputed the transaction and when that happens with an over-the-phone payment, the card holder always gets the money refunded from the business.
That's ok, I thought, we haven't made the frames she ordered, so no big deal.
Then, yesterday, 4 months after the initial transaction, I see on my business bank account that I have paid the full amount AGAIN! ($800) as a refund to the card holder.
After about 2 hours on the phone to my EFTPOS bank, jumping through all the ridiculous I.D. questions, being transferred many times, being on hold for ever... I am finally told that I have been scammed, and there is no way to recover the stolen funds.
Lesson learnt: Taking payments over the phone is very risky- If the card holder disputes any transaction, for any reason, they will be refunded and the business pays- No matter what. Also, it is even riskier if the "customer" says they have used the wrong card, and can you refund that one and process another? This means that the first card was stolen and the real owner will ask for a refund, then the thief will use another one and get a refund on that as well, which they will receive the funds from.
Some people will know of this scam already and say I was stupid for falling for it, but I am actually extremely aware of many scams and dodged the bullet many times, but never encounted this particularly sophisticated and complex one, and hope by telling this story it could prevent someone else falling for it.
