Lethbridge businesses on guard for fraudulent activity

LETHBRIDGE- For a business owner, all it could take is one simple transaction to destroy everything.

“Anytime there’s a retail business there’s definitely concern for those types of fraud,” said Lori Degenstein, loss prevention supervisor for Gas King. “We do encounter that in some of our stations.”

We deal with it every day, cash, cheques, debit or credit. It’s known as a common stresser to many but imagine finding out money from a big sale you just hooked is fraudulent, leading to a big, fat zero.

“Small companies and businesses and medium-sized businesses really can’t lose that money on their bottom line,” explained Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce general manager Stephanie Jaffray.

Businesses in southern Alberta recently fell victim to a fraudster.

“We had a gentleman attend several businesses here in Lethbridge attempting to purchase equipment and trucks, and basically convinced the companies to seel him these trucks when it turns out he didn’t have any money to do that,” said Sgt. Travis Evenson with Lethbridge Regional Police Service.

But not all instances of fraud have a safe ending, meaning businesses have to constantly keep watch for something out of the ordinary.

“We do have a loss prevention seminar that we teach four times a year. We just continue to train them so they’re on top of the most recent rules and laws.

Officials say it’s important to remember fraud doesn’t just happen in bigger cities or in big box stores. It can happen anywhere and come in many different forms.

“Some things to look out for is if the story a person’s providing you doesn’t make sense, or if it’s consistently changing to fit the questions that you’re asking. Also the quality of cheques or credit cards they’re dealing with,” explained Sgt. Evenson.

The bottom line? Fraud doesn’t fit a mold and it can happen to anyone.