ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A well-known Atlanta restaurant group told CBS Atlanta News on Tuesday that they have fallen victim to a gift card scam.
"We know for sure we're a victim of a gift card scam," The Melting Pot Proprietor Layla Gunn said.
Gunn said they've been taken advantage of by a group of 20-year-olds.
"Their check averages were about $400 or $500 each time they dined with us and each time they presented the gift card they would say can you check the balance and that raised some suspicion," Gunn said.
Gunn said employees knew something was wrong when a customer who had never dined at the restaurant had a zero balance on a gift card. Employees then traced that card number back to the group that had presented multiple cards in the past.
"We believe what they were doing is they were recoding the magnetic stripe on the back of the gift card because as we dug into it, we realized the gift cards they were presenting did not actually have the number printed on the back of the gift card," Gunn said.
The most recent incident happened at this store on Mansell Road in Alpharetta. Management called police and they are actively investigating.
CBS Atlanta's Adam Murphy tried to track down the suspects. Some weren't home and the others gave bogus addresses to police.
"We are going to keep pursuing this until they are apprehended or we at least have more details," Gunn said.
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