How Crooks Stole $5000 Worth of Booze From Ventnor Store

Here's some cautionary information for South Jersey business owners about a new twist crooks are using to rip stores off by using stolen credit cards.

Ventnor Liquor Store Loses $5000 to Credit Card Fraud

Monday night, three guys went into White Star Liquors on Ventnor Avenue and spent some time shopping for top-shelf spirits, according to a Facebook post from store owner Elisa Hankins.

Last night three men came into White Star claiming to be party planners for a nearby event. They proceeded to “buy” large quantities of top shelf spirits and shopped around the store from 8:00-9:00.

Fraudsters Had Stolen Credit Card Loaded on Their Phones

When it came time to pay, the three guys used separate credit cards loaded on their phones. It appears from the Facebook post that all the credit cards were the same card.

Here's more about the incident from the store owner.

My employee told them to pull their car up so she could help them load but they refused and she noticed them going in different directions.

When I got there I tried to stop them to ask where this event was and the name of the event company but they rushed out the door and never answered any of my questions.

Fifteen minutes later I had a woman calling the store yelling that her card had just been charged and that it was not authorized.

What Happens in This Situation?

I am curious about the store's liability in this situation.

Certainly, the credit card owner would be protected from liability for this theft by the credit card company.

That protection would seemingly not extend to the merchant, though.

In the Facebook post, the store's owner chalks it up to a lesson learned. "We were caught off guard last night and it was a very costly lesson to learn".

That's a tough lesson, if that's that's the end of the story.

Business owners, do you have any advice for the store's owner?