Georgia C-Stores Hit by Scammers

Swindlers have tricked the shops out of $40,000 in losses so far.

October 15, 2021

100 Dollar Bill on a Fishing Hook

COLUMBUS, Ga.—A Georgia police department is warning its community about a scam alert specifically targeting convenience stores, reports WMTV. Columbus, Ga., c-stores are receiving phone calls from scammers posing as law enforcement officers and tricking the businesses out of thousands of dollars.

“They’re pretending to be someone from the corporate office, advising the salesmen or the clerk, that a FBI agent, U.S. Marshall or some other federal agent will be in contact with them and are wanting the money out of the safe or registers and telling them to load a gift card with money,” Detective Braden Dobbins told WMTV.

The scam is happening frequently, and the Columbus Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit has investigated about $40,000 in losses total with $25,000 in losses happening in the past two days.

Last year in West Virginia, a similar scam happened where someone called a c-store claiming to be a vice president or other chain official and told the store that a representative would stop by and collect receipts and money in a bank bag. The caller would provide the c-store with a confirmation number. Then the “official” appeared at the store and recited the confirmation number to retrieve the bag with the cash, usually while the clerk was still on the phone with the scammer.

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