Small businesses falling victim to new form of theft through point of sale systems
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CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Small businesses falling victim to new form of theft through point of sale systems
Business owners are warning of a form of theft that's on the rise through their point of sale systems. Naama Weingarten explains how it works, and what can be done to help prevent it from happening.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Toronto BIA warns business owners of 'point of sale' scam after thousands of dollars in thefts
Social Sharing Multiple businesses in Toronto's east end say they are out thousands of dollars after so-called "point of sale", or POS, scam thefts. The thefts have prompted the area's BIA to warn business owners about the vulnerabilities of POS terminals. Lori Van Soelen, manager of the Beach BIA says she first learned of POS thefts in the area about three weeks ago when a business owner reached out to her. Van Soelen said the business owner said a customer came in, pretended like the tap function wasn't working, and told the owner they could return. But the alleged thief never did. The business owner later realized that her point of sale system had been accessed, and someone had refunded themselves almost $5,000, Van Soelen said. Van Soelen said up to seven business owners in the Beaches area have reported being victims of these kind of thefts. She said in some cases, thieves are correctly guessing the password to the POS and refunding themselves money while in other cases, thieves are swapping the point of sale terminal for their own when the business owner isn't looking. "My understanding is that every one of those POS terminals come with a default setting," she said. "Unless the business owner changes the passcode, they are at risk for someone to know that default, or they haven't set up the full security on the different settings in it." She said it doesn't seem to be just one person operating the scam, and thinks that multiple people are responsible for the various incidents. Thefts like these can be devastating for independent business owners, said Van Soelen. "In this little neighbourhood alone, we have a lot of independent businesses," she said. "It's an immediate loss on these revenues. With everything else in our economy, it's a huge loss for these businesses who don't have the security of a larger corporate chain behind them." Shiro Maruo, co-owner of NaNa Florist near Danforth Avenue and Main Street in the Upper Beaches, said he has been a victim of this type of theft. Maruo said the theft happened on June 21, when two men who claimed to be interested in purchasing flowers but left without buying anything. Less than half an hour later, he received an email from the payment processor, Clover, saying the manager's code on the terminal was changed and a $2,000 refund had been issued. After multiple calls to Clover, TD Bank and Toronto police, the money was frozen, and remains held. It hasn't been released to the alleged thieves' accounts, but Maruo says the bank is holding the money of all sales done between Friday, June 20 and Monday, June 23. For its part, Clover said it will refund Maruo the $2,000. Maruo says he believes the men swapped his point of sale machine with another when he wasn't looking. Toronto police said the theft of point of sale terminals "is the cause of this scam occurring," and recommended that business owners keep their terminals out of reach of customers. Point of sale thefts used to happen 'once in a blue moon': cybersecurity expert Clover told CBC in a statement it is actively working with its clients "to ensure full resolution" However, the statement "business owners have full control over refund permissions—allowing organizations to disable refunds, set limits, and assign employee-level entitlements to staff - ensuring secure and accountable operations." It also said it educates business owners on best practices for device security. One cybersecurity expert agrees that while it is up to businesses to secure their equipment, the onus does fall on POS vendors to deliver a secure device. Break-ins in Toronto's Roncesvalles neighbourhood have business owners on high alert 6 months ago Duration 2:35 A wave of break-ins has shop owners in Toronto's west end on high alert. Local food shop Spanish Pig is the latest victim of a growing list of burglaries in the Queen Street West area. CBC's Patrick Swadden explains. "When they deliver a unit, that unit should be secured," said Claudiu Popa, who's spent decades investigating cybercrime and educating the public. "They should have changed their default passwords and they should have disabled their refund functionality. Then you teach the merchant to enable it whenever they want it." He said because the units are often insecure, they've become easy targets for thieves. "Criminals used to satisfy themselves with doing this once in a blue moon, and now one or a handful of criminals have decided that walking up and down the street and defrauding a whole bunch of business owners at the same time is a lot more profitable," Popa said. Thefts happening across Ontario POS thefts aren't just occurring in Toronto. They're becoming common scams across Ontario. Vincent Kang is a franchise director at Halibut House Fish and Chips. His family owns the business, which operates 43 stores across the province. He says four of their locations have been robbed recently, totalling to about $6,000 in stolen money, plus having to replace $3,000 worth of POS terminals. The first instance happened at their location in Oshawa. "We put out an email to all our franchisees that evening advising them of the scam and to be aware of it," he said. "At which point immediately I had actually received another email from our location in Thornhill that advised me that they too had been robbed. Then over the course of about 48 hours, two more locations were hit." His message to other business owners is to be vigilant. "A lot of these commercial businesses or small businesses are doing their best to survive day-to-day and having something like this occurring to them can be very damaging. Put in those [precautions] and remove those access points."
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump to slap 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico in August
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he's levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico. Trump announced the tariffs on two of the United States' biggest trade partners in letters posted to his social media account. In his letter to Mexico's leader, Trump acknowledged that the country has been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States. But he said the country has not done enough to stop North America from turning into a 'Narco-Trafficking Playground.' Trump in his letter to the European Union said that the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat. 'We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers,' Trump wrote in the letter to the EU. 'Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.' Trump is in the midst of an announcement blitz of new tariffs with allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. With the reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively blowing up the rules governing world trade. For decades, the United States and most other countries abided by tariff rates set through a series of complex negotiations known as the Uruguay round. Countries could set their own tariffs – but under the 'most favored nation'' approach, they couldn't charge one country more than they charged another. With Saturday's letters, Trump has now issued tariff conditions on 24 countries and the 27-member European Union.
