The guide provides information about the latest Wagon Wheel Scam that targets restaurant owners as well as customers.
Local establishments in the United States has stated that they believed that a lot of restaurant workers used this Wagon Wheel Method to steal cash from businesses over the last three months. The case was officially registered on the 20th of September 2021 and local police were able to arrest four individuals in different sections.
The restaurant states that four employees of the restaurant have been making use of the industry-wide scam to steal cash from the company over the course of three months. It’s known by the name of the Wagon Wheel Scam. Read on to find out more about the fraud and the individuals who were involved in the fraud.
What is the Wagon Wheel Method?
A Wheel Wheel scheme is the traditional method used to commit scams and frauds. If a client is seated for a meal, a waiter will arrive to take the order and they do not just serve the food, but they can also offer a milkshake complimentary.
At the end of the day, the customers get their bill, they choose to withdraw cash or use a credit card to pay for the amount. However, prior to closing this transaction server is clever and opens a brand new bill, and then transfer the price of the milkshake on the original bill to another and then closes the server to take the cost for the drink.
Who Are Involved in the Wagon Wheel Scam?
After reviewing, we discovered information about the four people who are suspected of being involved in the fraud. According to the sources of the four employees who are part of this scam include:
- Katarina Zirdum, 31, Cape May
- Bojan Balaban, 28, Seattle
- Ana Galesic, 34, Cape May
- Verginia Gheorghita, 27, Miami
They are employees of the city’s restaurant, who are accused of conspiring and committing the scam. According to police officers and detectives in the area the suspects are the ones who have committed an act known as the Wagon Wheel Scam to steal a sum of $25 000 in three months.
How Does the Scam Work?
The scheme known as the wagon wheel is a scam that is used frequently within the industry of hospitality. The plan involves moving complimentary meals the server is responsible to pay, spreading out various invoices, and then stealing meals’ prices without the knowledge of the restaurant’s proprietor.
After an investigation, investigators as well as the Cape May Police Department found the individuals mentioned earlier guilty, and that they were engaged in this The Wagon Wheel Scam by creating ghost checks.
These fraudsters were indicted for 2C:20-3a (third degree crime) and Conspire for Theft 2C:5-2A (1) as well as other charges.
How to Prevent the Wagon Wheel Method?
Restaurants are asked to put in place strategies to identify and correct the actions and tactics which are often unnoticed. Data analytics is a platform that helps identify profitable behaviors through the application of sophisticated analytics on data sources that collect information and notify restaurant owners of any suspicious activities.
Restaurant owners should also be aware of the best practices about what to do in order to guard yourself from fraud.
Conclusion
The Wagon Wheel scam targets a large number of restaurant patrons as well as others who are loyal clients. So, the restaurant’s owner alerted the authorities after identifying the lucrative behaviour of some employees. When the report was filed by the authorities, they investigated and found four individuals who were involved in the fraud and were accused under various sections.
Are you a victim of a scam by scammers through scammers using the Wagon Wheel Scheme? If yes, then please write in the comments section how you have reported the fraud.
