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CBC
an hour 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."
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
B.C. tribunal dismisses claim for $5K in damages for beer-stained sofa
A woman who sought $5,000 in damages to repair a stained custom sofa she claimed a restoration contractor spilt beer on has had her case dismissed by a B.C. tribunal. According to a decision published June 26, Patricia Gooch took Barclay Restorations Corp. to the Civil Resolution Tribunal seeking the funds alongside an apology for a stain she claims was made while the company was carrying out flood restoration work in her home. The flooding, which occurred in May 2022 and affected 41 strata lots in Gooch's building, had resulted in her having to move out temporarily while Barclay was brought in to repair the damage. In July, Gooch's furniture was put into storage while the work continued. When the stashed furniture was returned in November, Gooch noticed a 'weird, brown, crusty, wavy stain' on her sofa underneath one of the bolsters that hadn't been there prior to the flood. The couch was not damaged during the flooding, the decision reads. Gooch told the tribunal the stain and a smell of 'old hops' remained even after steam cleaning the sofa twice. Gooch said the furniture movers and other workers who had been in her home during the flood restoration work had been supervised, while Barclay's workers had not. She also said she had seen 'several red beer cans' in her recycling bin when she visited the home in June, alongside a Barclay employee or subcontractor drinking the same brand of beer on the sidewalk outside. Gooch had suspected the company's employees had been using her strata lot to 'rest and drink in' as it was above the building's amenity room, the decision read. Ultimately, tribunal member Megan Stewart dismissed the claim, finding Gooch could not prove that the claimed beer stain was in fact derived from beer, and, even if it was, there was still the factor of the months-long gap between when Gooch last had the sofa and when she found the stain. 'I find this introduces a distinct possibility that someone or something other than a Barclay worker could have caused the staining,' Stewart concluded in the decision.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Montreal public market teams up with community organizations to tackle food insecurity
Austin Ola-Daniels was making the most of his Saturday morning, browsing the stalls at his local farmer's market in east end Montreal. With a huge smile on his face, Ola-Daniels showed off his food coupon card — a recurring voucher provided to vulnerable people or families who are facing food insecurity. "I love this card, it's been so helpful to my family," Ola-Daniels said. The new Montrealer arrived with his family from Nigeria just one year ago. He says he uses his card to supplement his family's needs. The voucher system is part of a new program being offered at the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market in partnership with three local community organizations, each with a different clientele base, that will run all summer long. Ola-Daniels was referred by Aide aux Immigrants à Montréal, an organization that helps immigrants and refugees in the city. WATCH | This Montreal public market is using its services to support those in need: This Montreal public market is using its services to support those in need 17 minutes ago Duration 2:07 The Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market, in partnership with community organizations, has started a program that will give nearly 100 households vouchers to use at the market for fresh produce. The voucher program allows those living in precarious situations to buy fresh food and produce without worrying about the cost using a prepaid, rechargeable card. Kate Johansson, the executive director of the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market, explained that the amount on the card varies according to household size, with single people getting $50 a month, a couple $75, and $100 for a family of three. Any household with more than four people gets $125 worth of goods per month. Ola-Daniels said he and his wife were astonished to be given a "credit card." "She was so happy," Ola-Daniels said of his wife, when he explained they could buy anything they wanted. For Johansson, that's what the food voucher program is about. She says giving people a choice of what they buy helps foster a sense of agency and dignity. "Most of the people that are coming here with the coupon program are from the food bank," Johansson said. "So they typically don't have the choice of their produce or any product that they have." Program expands to include 210 people from 95 different households The program started as a pilot project last year and served 50 households. Building on that success, it has now been expanded to include 210 people from 95 different households. The need for food assistance programs in the city, however, continues to grow as people struggle to make ends meet amid the rising cost of living and a housing crisis. In its 2024 Hunger Count, Moisson Montreal said community agencies in Montreal fulfilled close to one million requests for food assistance every month, in what it called an "alarming record." Food banks in the city have been vocal about feeling the strain and in many cases have had to turn people away. The food voucher program is seen locally as another alternative. "It's obviously not solving all the problems and the amount on the card is not enough to do a full grocery," Johansson said. "It's really just to complement the offer of the food bank." The summer program started last week and Ola-Daniels said he's bought some vegetables, bread and was even able to treat his children to some pizza from the market. "The pizza is, wow, good," he exclaimed, adding his kids were very appreciative. Ola-Daniels agreed with Johansson that the card helps with additional needs the family might have. "Without the voucher card maybe things we have at home are finished, then we have to use our own money to go and buy it back, but we are using the voucher card to get it," he said. "So it's an advantage for us." Organizers are hoping that one day there will be a universal food coupon program that can be used all year round at any farmers market in Quebec. Johansson said the initiative doesn't just help those facing food insecurity, but the community as a whole. It helps strengthen community ties by bringing together people in one place who wouldn't necessarily meet otherwise, she said.
