A massive purchase made him doubt. He listened to his instinct and avoided losing thousands of dollars

Thanks to the rise of cybercrime, criminals can easily complete an online or over-the-phone transaction using a stolen credit card. The key to preventing this type of scam is knowing what information to ask before processing the transaction.

For the last 30 years Juan Lemus has worked in the automotive industry. His small business in City Heights had never been a target of scammers until last month when he received a call from a new customer. 

The client was requesting a quote for car batteries, but the quantity he wanted surprised him since he had never sold so much in a single transaction.

The buyer asked for 30 batteries valued at around $6,000, said Lemus. At first, he was surprised because it was a big amount but still went ahead with the transaction. Lemus had only requested a photo ID from the customer. 

Because of the amount, the potential buyer said that the payment had to be done in two separate credit card transactions. The transactions went through. A day later, the client called him saying he had made a mistake in the battery model and wanted to make another purchase. This is when Lemus became suspicious and asked him for a picture of the credit card to verify his identity. 

The buyer sent Lemus a picture of the credit card he was using to make the purchase. NBC 7 Responds did a basic Google search for an American Express credit card and found a photo that looks almost identical to the one Lemus got.

He thinks that the client used a stolen credit card. 

He decided to call the point of sale company where he was told that the name on the credit card and the name on the ID didn't match. When he tried to confront the client, he hung up on him and disappeared. 

“Scammers are just getting more and more sophisticated,” said Jasmine Hill with the Better Business Bureau. 

So how can you avoid falling for this kind of fraud? 

The BBB says it's better to request more information than needed in order to verify you're talking to the real card owner.

Hill said it’s better to “get as much information as you can from the actual card rather than just the number itself. Make sure their ZIP code matches the mailing address that they gave you when you did collect that other information beforehand.”

She also recommends not making this type of transaction over the phone. 

“There's a little bit more liability and security when you do things online and that may even flag him beforehand if it was something that he was to do over the phone,” she said.

Fortunately, Lemus was able to return the batteries and recover his money, and eventually, the real owner of the credit card got a refund for the $6,000 purchase. If you're a small business owner and have been a victim of this type of fraud you can report it to the BBB.