HONOLULU (KHON2) -- A social media trend is making its way across the country and has hit at least one island business. It's cutting into their bottom line. But they say the emotional pain hurts more.
Lopaka Kapanui loves telling ghost stories.
"My favorite ghost story is the one I cannot tell on camera haha," said Lopaka Kapanui.
It's not only his passion, but his livelihood. Lopaka and wife Tanya run "Mysteries of Hawaii", which was recognized by USA Today as the top ghost tour in the country. But they've had to deal with a growing problem.
The problem is called friendly fraud. It's when influencers tell people to pay for their goods and service with a credit card. Then a couple weeks later, they can dispute the charge. If they're successful, the customer basically gets it for free. The business get left with nothing but a headache.
"Unfortunately, that's the disparity of human nature," said Kapanui. "And these are not scammers or con men. These are regular everyday people which makes it more frustrating."
Kapanui says they've had to fight 10 disputes so far, texting previous customers asking what's going on. He's won some battles and lost some, costing them time and money. And he's finding more locals are doing it too.
"We face-to-face talk to these people," said Kapanui. "Made friends and then they do this. We're like, so this is gonna be awkward. What if we like run into them at Longs or Costco? What are we gonna do then?"
"Trust is a two way street," said Cameron Nakashima of the Better Business Bureau. "The rising tide lifts all ships. When the inverse happens, bad situations across the local economy are gonna make it more expensive for everybody."
The Better Business Bureau says the best way for businesses to protect themselves - document as much as you can with receipts and invoices. Also, be in touch with your credit card service providers, and find out their rules. And it reminds potential fraudsters this is a crime.
"The consequences of that are if you get caught, there could be legal action that could be taken against you cause it is fraud," said Nakashima. "Another thing is it could damage your relationship with the card provider, and it could even impact your credit score."
Kapanui will keep fighting the good fight, so he can keep sharing his stories.
"Because we love having people at these things and we love making friends," said Kapanui. "That's basically the crux of it even though we're talking about ghosts and spirits."