A Nigerian man identified as Onyenzenwa on twitter has gone on the platform to expose a new method of fraud that involves use of point of sale.
According to him, some vendors employed it by removing a card after the machine showed ‘approved’ but before the receipt prints out which then makes it ‘declined’.
He said that when this happened, the money which would eventually return would go to the vendor’s account and not the person who tried to make payments.
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In cases where their customer was made to pay again, it would mean that the vendor ends up receiving twice the amount.
He wrote:
So there’s a POS scam going on (not sure it’s new) with some vendors. You finish your purchase and present your ATM card for payment, once it shows ‘Approved’ they’ll remove your card without allowing it to print out receipt, hence the POS will revert to ‘Declined’.
If you complain they’ll tell you to contact your bank, that they will reverse the payment. And because that’s the general expectation, anybody nearby (even other customers) will join them in saying the same thing.
Once you fall for that scam and pay again, your money is ‘gone’.
The bank/merchant will reverse the money, but not to your account. It goes to the vendor’s account. You’ll just waste your time going back and forth between your bank and the vendor.
This has happened to me 3x, the first 2x I didn’t bother because the money wasn’t material.
This 3rd one is the straw that’ll break the camel’s back. According to my bank, the merchant refused to refund me cos they claim to have already reversed the money.
Since the reversal can’t be traced to my account, my bank is following up to find a solution.
So, to recap, if your transaction shows ‘Declined’ and debits you, your money will be reversed to your account.
But if it first shows ‘Approved’ and then ‘Declined’, the money will be reversed to the vendor’s account and you won’t get your money back without a fight.
Be guided.
As @oderathekid advised, when you’re done putting your pin, hold the POS until it shows you approved and prints the first receipt.
When you put your pin and they immediately ask you to give them the POS, don’t listen to them. Protect your money.
See tweets
READ: Orange seller makes use of POS method of payment in Ibadan (photos)
