In its early stages, the investigation has uncovered approximately $9000 worth of fraudulent transactions since June 1, 2018.

Senior Sergeant Leif Hovland is expecting more suspect transactions to come.

“We are urging credit card holders to check their credit card statements thoroughly and report anything suspicious to police,” he said.

“We have reason to believe that more fraudulent transactions have occurred and we are working with the banks to uncover them.”

Police believe at least one case has occurred involving a customer appearing to use a pay-by-phone function available on some smartphone applications.

During this payment process, the customer also accesses the EFTPOS terminal’s manual entry function to enter possibly stolen or fraudulently obtained credit card details.

Retailers who use EFTPOS machines are advised to be on the look-out for this type of behaviour.

Report anything suspicious immediately to police, taking note of any details that may help police with their enquiries.

If you believe you have information which may assist police with their investigations, please call 131 444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.