TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Troy police have encountered a new scam targeting local restaurants.
On Oct. 30, a server at Ocean Prime Restaurant took a call from someone identifying himself as David Miller, president of the company, police say. The "president" told the server that the general manager at the business was going to be fired. The victim was instructed to take $5,000 of the restaurant's money and purchase gift card, which he did. He was then instructed to take pictures of the serial numbers on the cards and send them to the caller, which he also did. The employee realized later that he had been scammed.
Police say that on Nov. 14, an employee at Five Guys Burgers and Fries spoke with an unknown person who told her that the general manager of the store was stealing money from the tax withholding account. Police say the employee was told to get all of the available cash from the store and buy prepaid debit cards with Walmart. The total money placed on the five cards was $2,164. Police say the employee also took photographs of the front and back of the cards, which were sent to the caller.
Once she realized she had been scammed, she informed the Chief Financial Officer. The responding officer responded to Walmart and discovered the gift cards had not been registered online yet, police say. Walmart may have been able to stop the transfer of funds in time.
