Since mid-June this year, six fraud offences have been reported from across the county – three in Hartlepool, one in Stockton and two in Redcar & Cleveland.
A police spokesperson said: “On each occasion, suspects have entered the store and produced a barcode on a mobile phone or tablet, then asked for cash back. However, when store staff have checked the till, they have discovered considerable losses which were then traced back to the barcode that was scanned. It appears barcodes have been manipulated to obtain funds electronically from the till.”
Detective Sergeant Kev Appleby, from Cleveland Police’s Fraud Unit, said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to Operation Sentinel (the North-East regional initiative tackling serious and organised crime) Cleveland Police is committed to protecting residents and businesses from fraud. Unfortunately, we have seen several recent instances of this particular scam and I urge all members of the Pay Point scheme to: STOP! Think Fraud and to check and double check the barcode, report the incident to police by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency and contact your Pay Point representative.”
