TPD: Criminals Scamming Local Businesses Out Of Thousands With Fake Credit Cards

The Tulsa Police said criminals are scamming local businesses out of thousands of dollars and the owners may not even realize until several weeks later they've been the victim of a scam. 

Detectives said the transaction seems normal at first. The customer swipes a credit card, but instead of being approved, the card is declined. 

"They'll say that shouldn't happen. I'm going to call my bank right now and figure it out," said Detective David Ledezma. 

He said the customer then gives a fake authorization code.

"When the credit card processing company calls for that authorization code if it wasn't actually issued by a bank they won't process that transaction and it will result in a charge back to the merchant," said Detective Ledezma. 

Detective Ledezma said by that point, it's already been several weeks. This same scenario is what led police to arrest Peter Apon after they said he used the same scam at a local store and cost the owner thousands of dollars. "We've seen a lot of tool companies, trailers, that kind of stuff," said Detective Ledezma. 

He said the best thing a business can do is call the bank directly instead of trusting the customer.