A flooring retailer in Cranston, R.I., is on the hook for a $6,400 bill after accepting payment from a customer using a stolen credit card, NBC 10 News reports.
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A flooring retailer in Cranston, R.I., is on the hook for a $6,400 bill after accepting payment from a customer using a stolen credit card, NBC 10 News reports.
Karpet Klinic sold $6,400 worth of red oak flooring in May 2018 to someone claiming to be a contractor who ran short of flooring on a job.
“The guys showed up, they were wearing knee pads like they had just got off a job and they were running short and they needed some more red oak,” Karpet Klinic Owner Michael Pirolli told NBC 10.
The purported contractor loaded the flooring into his truck and paid with what appeared to be a Bank of America credit card, according to the report. The credit card did not have a security chip.
Before processing the payment, Pirolli said he followed precautionary steps—including contacting his credit card processing company, North American Bancard, to ask if the card had been stolen and if the funds were available. He said he was told the card was not stolen, and that if the card went through after being swiped, the money was available.
Three weeks later, however, Pirolli was informed the credit card processing company was incorrect and that the card used to pay for the red oak had, in fact, been stolen, and that he was out the $6,400.
North American Bancard told NBC 10 that it “fulfilled its obligations” to the flooring retailer to the fullest extent and is not liable for the payment.
The NBC 10 report quoted Steve Weisman, a professor and author of "Identity Theft Alert," who said another measure Pirolli could have taken was refusing to use a credit card without a security chip. The security chip prevents information from being stolen and uploaded onto a fake credit card via its magnetic strip.
“What they should have done is refuse the card, because generally now all cards have the chip,” Weisman told NBC 10.
