KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Kansas City police say thieves are using aluminum foil to block satellites and run up big credit card bills.
Thieves used the scheme at least three times in Kansas City since the weekend.
The process works at businesses that use satellite dishes to transmit credit card information to card companies, banks or processing centers. Police say the thieves stop those transmissions by covering satellite dishes with aluminum foil. That allows thieves to use counterfeit, maxed-out or stolen credit card without being detected.
Police Sgt. Rob Rickett tells The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/14CPNN4 ) the scam has been reported elsewhere in the country but has only recently been found in Kansas City. Rickett says small businesses are especially vulnerable because larger businesses are more likely to discover the problem sooner.