After using his credit card to buy $98 worth of merchandise at Walmart in Montoursville on Aug. 8, Michael Scott Royer contacted his credit card company and falsely claimed that someone had used the card fraudulently to make the very purchase he had just made, borough police alleged in an affidavit.

Royer’s bogus claim caused the charge to go back to the department store, police said.

Royer, 45, Milton, is suspected of allegedly committing the same scam at other Walmarts in the region, according to borough police, who have charged him with theft by deception and receiving stolen property. He has since waived his preliminary hearing before District Judge Gary Whiteman and is free $5,000 bail.