EDMONDS, Wash. — An Edmonds cafe lost about $1,000 this past weekend after scammers manipulated its point-of-sale system to issue themselves fraudulent manual refunds.
The co-owner of “Our Place Dessert Café” is now warning other Snohomish County businesses about the high-tech theft that happened Sunday afternoon.
The scam involves thieves using a business’s own payment kiosk to credit money back to cards that were never used for a purchase.
While Edmonds police confirmed they are investigating the incident, business owners are being urged to monitor their registers for deceptive debit card activity that bypasses standard sales procedures.
Tyler Cigich, co-owner of Our Place Dessert Café, first realized his business was targeted after receiving an urgent call from his wife. Cigich also serves as a private investigator.
“This past weekend I received a phone call from my wife,” Cigich said. “She initially told me someone had taken money from the register. I was panicking thinking it’s a robbery and armed robbery.”
The theft did not involve a physical break-in or a traditional hold-up. Instead, the suspects used a debit card and deception to access the cafe’s point-of-sale terminal.
They were able to manipulate the system to credit themselves for transactions that never occurred.
“They were able to manipulate our POS (point-of-sale) system to issue themselves manual refunds, each one was 450-dollars plus tax they did it on two separate cards,” Cigich said. He noted that the men “were in and out of here in about a minute.”
Similar payment scams have been reported recently at other area establishments.
In December, KIRO 7 reported that two men targeted Migoto Sushi Bar in Capitol Hill. In that incident, the suspects claimed they did not have their physical card and convinced the owner to let them use the restaurant’s payment kiosk, which they used to manually refund themselves $500.
“I’ve heard about stuff like this happening, never expected it to happen here,” Cigich said.
Cigich used his background as a private investigator to gather evidence after the incident. He was able to track the cards used and said someone sent him screenshots of the supposed refunds and claimed that they’re card had been stolen.
“These types of sophisticated crime technology, like you said it would not be the first thing that you think of when you think of someone stealing money from your register,” Cigich said.
Edmonds police are currently attempting to track down the suspects.
The owners are sharing the story to warn other business owners not to fall for payment scams where thieves issue themselves fraudulent refunds.