HASTINGS, Neb. – The Hastings Police Department is advising local businesses to use caution against a circulating credit card scam targeting Hastings.

On Friday, the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce shared a letter from HPD Detective Sergeant Nathan Hanson via email and social media.

According to the letter, police say they've received multiple reports of fraudulent credit card activity in cases where a suspect uses a damaged credit card, or a card without the physical numbers printed on the card.

Police say the suspects then ask the store cashier to manually enter the card number into their payment system, but those numbers don't match the presented card.

The letter also says several of the scams have involved credit cards with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, but the fraudulent cards have been linked to other financial institutions as well.

HPD is recommending businesses to avoid manually entering credit card numbers, ask for the person's ID when in doubt of a legitimate transaction, monitor for unusual or high-value transactions, and to report any suspicious activity to the police department.

Anyone who has more information or concerns about this scam is encouraged to contact the Hastings Police Department at 402-461-2380.