FRAUD ALERT: YPD informs community of scammer targeting local businesses

The Yuma Police Department is starting to receive reports of a new scam going around the Yuma area that is affecting the local business community.

Local businesses are receiving calls saying they owe money for items ordered and the scammer will name items that could be legitimately ordered for that business.

The employee is then told to get cash, exchange it for pesos, take it to a bank in San Luis, Mexico and deposit it. The scammer will either know the manager’s name or trick the employee into saying the manager’s name and say they knew about the order.

Another story a suspect is telling is that they are from corporate and money needs to be deposited.

Some of the businesses affected by this scam have lost several thousand dollars.

These scams are happening at night or early morning hours and are having the money deposited into numerous ATM machines in Mexico into multiple accounts.

If you are a business owner or manager, please let your employees know about this scam. When in doubt, call and double check information so you do not become a victim of this type of fraud.

If you believe you have been a victim of this type of crime, please report it to your local law enforcement agency.