Scammers steal almost £80,000 from London practice

A practice manager has warned the veterinary sector may be being specifically targeted after tens of thousands of pounds were stolen in a new card terminal scam.

Dozens of bogus transactions were carried out after a man took the machine from Roundwood Vets in Willesden, north-west London, last Thursday (20 February), despite being chased by a receptionist.

Although the funds taken – more than £77,000 – have now been recovered, bosses hope that sharing their experience will encourage other practices to be vigilant and prevent further similar incidents.

Practice manager Nikki Roberts said: “It’s a going-out-of-business amount.”

Spate of cases

The new incident follows a spate of cases across England before Christmas in which card terminals were reprogrammed to process bogus “refund” transactions, sometimes worth thousands of pounds.

In this case, it is believed the scammer recorded a supervisor code entered into the terminal when a refund was being processed during an initial visit to the practice in mid-January.

After fleeing with the reader on his return, the machine was then used to process 35 separate transactions in just 30 minutes. Although he was pursued by the receptionist, Mrs Roberts said the man got into a car and fled the area.

‘Easier targets’

Other practices are also believed to have been targeted and Mrs Roberts said she was concerned veterinary surgeries may be considered to be easier targets than other sectors.

She said: “I’m in a Brent business group and a group for the businesses on our road and no other business got targeted.”

The practice has also changed its working protocols since the incident, including no longer allowing customers who are not registered with the practice to enter the premises, and has urged other to tighten their security procedures, including changing codes when suspicious activity is detected, securing terminals and being wary of late purchase requests.

The incident has been reported to the Metropolitan Police, which Vet Times has approached for comment.