BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Independent Bike Dealers in the Essex area have been hit by credit card fraud in the past month.
Two shops have been targeted, losing five bikes to fraudulent activity. So far the bikes lost, including BMXs and mountain bikes, have been of relatively low values – the total cost of which is little over £1,000.
Both shops preferred not to be named.
A source told BikeBiz: “They’re coming into the shops browsing for bikes and then they phone up later to order and pay for them by credit card.
“Later on, maybe even a month later, they phone up and say something like ‘I’ve been really busy, so I’m sending my brother to come and collect the bike’ and they walk away with the bikes.”
BikeBiz has a dedicated thread on fraudulent activity and retail cycle theft on the Forum.
