CCTV shows moment conman defrauds Kent veterinary surgery out of nearly £6,000

  • WATCH: CCTV shows the moment a man is alleged to have defrauded a vet practice in Kent, as ITV Meridian's John Ryall reports.

A conman who tricked a business into paying him massive 'refunds', has scammed a Medway veterinary practice out of £6,000, jeopardising the staff's Christmas bonus.

It's believed the scammer targeted a number of businesses in Kent, including Clover Street Veterinary Clinic.

Staff say a man, who wasn't registered at the practice, came in to buy flee treatment worth £20 on 4 December.

It's claimed that when he was handed the chip-and-pin machine for payment, the man instructed it to deposit £5900 into his account, instead of paying.

Veterinary nurse Wallace Scott was the member of staff who handed over the card machine for him to pay.

However, when she asked for the receipt, he refused to hand it over and put it in his pocket.

Veterinary nurse Wallace Scott was the member of staff who handed over the card machine for him to pay. Credit: ITV Meridian

Wallace said: "He was very confident and chatty. He clearly knew to keep me talking to do his thing on the machine.

"He was asking me about Christmas and was generally quite pleasant. I didn't get any alarm bells until the receipt came out of the card machine.

"It is just an unfortunate incident that we wish hadn’t have happened. It has made a massive impact - Christmas is meant to be joyous, not stressful.

"Hopefully, we will try and make other businesses aware that it happens, because it happened to us."

Kent Police said it is also investigating a similar report of fraud which was alleged to have happened at a veterinary practice in Bearsted last week.

In a statement, the force said: "Kent Police was called at 12.07pm on Wednesday 4 December to a report of a fraud at a veterinary practice in Clover Street, Chatham.

"Officers have spoken to the victim and an investigation is underway, including the review of CCTV footage.

"Anyone with information that may assist is urged to contact Kent Police."

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