Scammers changing the payment type using the Square terminal in store

[CharlotteFaye]

Hi, I have recently been scammed by a customer in store whilst attempting to take payment for a high ticket item. I believe the square terminal is compromised with this specific scam and feel that the software needs amending.

A customer was purchasing an item, I entered the amount and pressed charge. The customer put their debit card into the side of the terminal and the pin request page came up. I spun the ipad to face the customer (as we are trained not to observe the pin entering process) and unbeknown to me this customer managed to change the payment type to 'other' whilst pretending to enter his pin. The receipt printer gave me a receipt that showed an authorisation code. the receipt shows 'other' as a payment type but I have seen certain card types also be shown as 'other' so didn't think anything was wrong at this stage. I double checked the transaction was showing in my authorised sales list, it was. The symbol was a debit card symbol with three dots inside. the customer showed me his non-uk debit card and said this was a common occurence.

I checked my balance and again the amount was showing. I released the goods to the customer but now have discovered that I have suffered a huge loss. Square have been amazingly unhelpful. Whilst I accept my own errors, I do feel the terminal misled me into believing the transaction was legitimate and had actually taken place. This is a huge 4 figure loss to my small business. Has this happened to any other trader?

Thanks

[Laurie_]

Hi @CharlotteFaye,

Just a quick note that I’ve moved this conversation to a private board. The main reason for this is to avoid publicising any details that could potentially be used to carry out similar fraudulent activity on another Square accounts.

That said, I’ve taken a look at your Square account today and can see that a representative from our Support Team recently responded to your inquiry and requested some additional information. To move forward, I strongly recommend continuing to work directly with our Support Team, as they’re best equipped to review sensitive details, such as payment information, in a secure setting. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to access or discuss those specifics here in the Community.

Rest assured, we’re here to support you through this. If you have any trouble replying to the email or connecting with the team, just let us know and we’ll make sure it’s followed up.

Again, I’m really sorry to hear you’ve had this experience with one of your customers.

[CharlotteFaye]

HI Laurie, 

If only the Square team would engage with me on this!! This is a really important issue that other retailers need to hear about. I have been very disappointed with the response from Square on this. I appreciate your reply however.