BUSINESSES are being urged to be on their guard after a Vale restaurant owner was targeted by fraudsters.

Last Sunday afternoon the Wayfarers in Croftamie received a phone call at 1.30pm from a man who said he wanted to create a tab for �200 for a group of his friends he was sending round.

The payment was successfully put through the card machine and around 10 to 15 minutes later six foreign men who were "quite big built" came in.

Balloch man Stuart Burch, who has owned the Wayfarers for the last three years, said the men immediately ordered expensive Grey Goose vodka at �3.50 a time and all the starters from the menu.

He told the Reporter: "The men then tried to move onto ordering main courses. At this point we received a call from a woman asking why �200 had been billed to her card, as she had never been to Wayfarers and under no circumstances was it authorised.

"We then contacted the police about the fraudulent transaction and told them the customers were still onsite. The police then came down. When the guys came back up to the bar they were told the card was no longer working and we asked for another form of payment. Three of them left, and three stayed.

"The three that stayed were spoken to by police and said they were invited down for drinks and offered to pay the �125 bill that drummed up from just the vodka and starters."

Stuart was told by officers there was nothing they could do as no offence had been committed as the food had been paid for and there was no way to trace the caller.

"They obviously had the intention of being here for a few hours, drinking and eating as best they could and moving on."

He has now put a �40 cap on the amount people can leave on a tab over the phone in order to protect themselves and deter people trying to do this again. Inspector Coleen Wylie of Dumbarton Police Office urged local businesses to be wary of this type of incident, particularly where cardholders are not present as it could leave them substantially out of pocket.

Another business in the area, the Oaktree Inn in Balmaha says it has also been targeted in the past by various scams. Owner Sandy Fraser said: "The tougher it gets the more people think they can apply Robin Hood tactics. Nothing has happened to us recently, but we have been targetted and scammed out of money in the last couple of years. I will be warning my staff to be on their guard after hearing about this latest scam."

Inspector Wylie added: "If you are suspicious it may be part of a fraudulent scheme, do not process the transaction and contact the police. If you require any further crime prevention advice please contact our Preventions Department at Dumbarton Police Office telephone 101, or visit our website at www.scotland.police.uk."