Kimberly Berg
Well-known member
On January 1st, I was very disheartened to see suspicious credit card activity for $1155 at my car wash. Urgh!! 
Fortunately, I have 31 HD cameras. I was sick as I watched 8 young adults arrive on a cold evening, in 4 different cars, use 7 different credit cards to purchase between $50 - $260 in tokens within 1 hour. 2 of the vehicles were missing plates and only 2 washed. Very suspicious! I saw them get out of their cars, run to my ePort credit card reader, use their phones, then stuff their pockets with $1 tokens. They were giddy and laughing. In total, there were 59 transactions within 58 minutes, for $1155!
The next day I spent hours watching and downloading video, photos, CC transaction report and notes to the local police department. Thoughts of paying back all that money created more anxiety in me... Urgh!!
View attachment 20240114162320855_CASH MACHINE_G19204617.mp4
Well, last night one of the young guys returned to wash his truck and rubber mats. So, we headed down to the car wash for a little chat...
We calmly told him we suspected him and his friends were using stolen credit card #s, and had turned all the photos and videos over to the police department. The young guy was shocked and nervously insisted “he was using his own personal card!” He told us there was an Asian guy promoting our $1 tokens, telling them “they could purchase 20 tokens for ONLY $1.50!” and showed them how to use the Contactless feature on the credit card reader.
LOL! $1.50 is the temporary pre-authorization amount on our credit card reader, and will adjust within a few days to the corrected amount. Just to be on the safe side and prove he was telling the truth, he allowed us to take a photo of his CA Driver’s License. He told us how much him and his friends LOVE our car wash, and are loyal customers!
I can't tell you how relieved I feel today!!
Fortunately, I have 31 HD cameras. I was sick as I watched 8 young adults arrive on a cold evening, in 4 different cars, use 7 different credit cards to purchase between $50 - $260 in tokens within 1 hour. 2 of the vehicles were missing plates and only 2 washed. Very suspicious! I saw them get out of their cars, run to my ePort credit card reader, use their phones, then stuff their pockets with $1 tokens. They were giddy and laughing. In total, there were 59 transactions within 58 minutes, for $1155!
The next day I spent hours watching and downloading video, photos, CC transaction report and notes to the local police department. Thoughts of paying back all that money created more anxiety in me... Urgh!!
View attachment 20240114162320855_CASH MACHINE_G19204617.mp4
Well, last night one of the young guys returned to wash his truck and rubber mats. So, we headed down to the car wash for a little chat...
We calmly told him we suspected him and his friends were using stolen credit card #s, and had turned all the photos and videos over to the police department. The young guy was shocked and nervously insisted “he was using his own personal card!” He told us there was an Asian guy promoting our $1 tokens, telling them “they could purchase 20 tokens for ONLY $1.50!” and showed them how to use the Contactless feature on the credit card reader.
LOL! $1.50 is the temporary pre-authorization amount on our credit card reader, and will adjust within a few days to the corrected amount. Just to be on the safe side and prove he was telling the truth, he allowed us to take a photo of his CA Driver’s License. He told us how much him and his friends LOVE our car wash, and are loyal customers!
I can't tell you how relieved I feel today!!
