If you've ever bought a board game from Zatu, one of the UK's biggest online tabletop retailers, here's an awkward bit of news. A former assistant manager at Zatu's gaming centre has been sentenced after running a card reader scam that pocketed more than £15,000 of customer payments.
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Set up your group for freeLuke Blakemore, 32, appeared at Norwich Crown Court on 6 May to be sentenced for theft and fraud after pleading guilty. Between October 2024 and February 2025, he used his own personal card reader at the till. He scanned legitimate board game purchases, but the payments routed straight into his own account rather than Zatu's. The total came to £15,331.
Zatu spotted the scheme by noticing discrepancies between stock records and inventory levels. The games walking out of the shop weren't matching the receipts going through the system. The judge described Blakemore's conduct as "abusing a position of trust" and handed down a four-month sentence suspended for 12 months, plus 80 hours of unpaid community service. His barrister cited financial pressure and mental health struggles, with no prior misconduct.
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Start organising for freeFor context, Zatu is one of the most recognisable names in the British board game retail scene. The Norfolk-based retailer often beats high street pricing on big releases and sponsors plenty of UK convention activity, including a regular UK Games Expo presence. None of that is at risk from a single rogue till, but the fraud is a reminder that the indie-feeling tabletop trade has grown into a real industry with real money flowing through it.
For shoppers, nothing changes. Zatu identified the discrepancies through routine stock checks and acted on them. If anything, it's a small win for the unglamorous work of inventory reconciliation, which is the very last thing anybody starts a board game shop hoping to do.
Sources: Wargamer
