Last year, Australians lost over $568 million, according to Scamwatch. If you are a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker who is able to be booked online, it’s important you are aware of this scam as it can quickly drain your savings.
What is ‘Card Cashing’?
This is how it occurs.
- A Pet Owner makes an online booking with you using a credit card (for say $2000).
- A day later, they might tell you they’ve had a change of plans/family is sick and they want a refund.
- The Catch: They tell you they want the refund in cash, or paid into their PayPal or Bank account, perhaps even insisting that they closed that credit card account.
- You politely oblige. You refund $2000 into their requested account & wishing their family a speedy recovery.
- 30 days later, the card issuing bank raises a dispute with you, saying that last month you processed an unauthorised credit card.
- You explain that you already refunded the Pet Owner but then you find out the credit card never belonged to the Pet Owner who booked you. The customer was actually a cybercriminal using a stolen credit card. The bank debits $2000 from your account to recover funds for their customer. You are now -$4000. This is because you have lost both the disputed amount and the amount you refunded separately to the person you thought was a Pet Owner.
How can I keep myself safe online?
- Never refund a cardholder into a different source, such as Cash, Paypal, or a Bank account. You must only ever reverse the transaction through which it came. Even if they demand or insist that they can no longer access that credit card. If a payment is found to be fraudulent and a dispute is received, you can lose both the disputed amount and the amount you refunded separately.
- Always check whether a Customer’s Name matches with an email address and matches with a credit card.
- Download the latest anti-virus and firewall software to both your smartphone and your laptop.
- Don’t click on links from Sites you don’t recognise.
- Don’t play facebook games with friends. Many are designed by cybercriminals.
- Scrutinise emails by hovering your mouse cursor over links to check the address before clicking them. Criminals create ‘phishing’ emails that are designed to trick you to look similar to the real ones you receive. Scruitinse signature blocks as they may be fake.
- Update your internet browser.
- Create a passphrase such as ‘Johnlovesdogs’ but use a combination of numbers, symbols, and alpha chatacters.
- Use a different password to the one you use for other services.
- Change your password on a regular basis.
- Avoid using unsecured public Wi-Fi.
- Never pre-approve payment without meeting the Pet Owner in person.
- Never accept overpayment for pet sitting where the Pet Owner is asking you to send some of the money on to another person or business.
PetCloud’s payment partner uses the latest fraud detection technology to flag high risk cardholders and decrease credit card cybercrime. Protect your savings and join PetCloud today.
Read More: Forbes report – thousands of Paypal accounts breached between Dec 6-8, 2022
