Shops Fooled By 'Forced Sale' Credit Card Scam

(CBS) – Store owners say she walks into stores like any other shopper and walks out with merchandise she never paid for.

As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reports, the "swift-talking" woman may be making off with thousands of dollars in goods.

"This was a professional. This is a grifter," Angela Turley, owner of Turley Road in Andersonville, says.

Turley says the woman is behind an elaborate credit card scam hitting small retailers.

Video shows the woman inside Turley's shop last Thursday, talking with the cashier at check out. Before the employee can run the card through the credit card machine, the young women asks to punch a number in the machine, making up a story -- all to take the machine off line.

"If it's offline, it's worthless," Turley says.

After performing what's called a "forced sale," the woman got away with nearly $2,000 in high end clothes.

Back in January, Jennifer Bell says the same woman hit the Lazy Dog Antique Shop in Lakeview, scamming the small shop out of about $3,300.

"During the situation, I thought it was just, you know, a great sale," Bell says.

Police say they are investigating the most recent forced sale attempt. Operators of other businesses say they have seen the woman, too.