Ballina police have arrested a woman for numerous fraud offences allegedly committed using the ‘paywave’ facilities of stolen credit cards.
Police allege that the 29 year old Goonellabah woman stole two credit cards from a Ballina home on July 23.
They say she then went on to make 17 fraudulent paywave purchases from stores in Ballina and Goonellabah the following day (July 24).
A total of $927.48 was run up on the cards in purchases ranging from $20.91 to $93.28.
On Monday (October 2) the woman was arrested in Ballina and charged with one count of steal property from dwelling and 17 counts of cishonestly obtain property by deception. She will appear in Ballina Local Court this month.
Police are reminding retail staff who have any suspicions about a customer using paywave, that they are quite entitled to ask for some identification or to refuse the transaction.
If your card is stolen or lost, you should contact your financial institution urgently. It may be a good idea to call store your bank’s phone number in your mobile phone.
Here are the various banks’ lost credit card phone numbers:
Commonwealth Bank – 13 22 21
National Australia Bank – 1800 033 103
ANZ Bank – 1800 033 844
Westpac Bank – 1300 130 961
Summerland Credit Union – 1300 802 222
Bank of Queensland – 1800 077 024
