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Gift card fraud at Sears ... Be careful always check your balance after refunds

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  • Dec 31st, 2010 5:53 pm
Member
Jul 31, 2005
382 posts
51 upvotes

Gift card fraud at Sears ... Be careful always check your balance after refunds

An employee attempted to switch and steal my gift card.

This happened yesterday at the Sears Scarborough Town Centre, electronics department. I was returning an unopened blu ray player because it did not have Wifi capabilities, the item was purchased with $100 gift card (Sears colours points). The employee put $100 refund back onto a gift card and leftover amount onto my Sears Mastercard, the thing is he had 2 gift cards sitting on top of the register. He loaded the refund $100 onto one card, then switched the gift card with a blank one and gave it to me.

This all happened in a matter of a split second and i didn't even realize that I had been defrauded. It wasn't until I was almost walking out of the store I looked at the back of the Gift card and compared it to the number on the receipt and the numbers did not match, they were off by 1 digit. I then went to another cashier and told her to check the balance, she did and the card was inactive. I told her the story and she then proceeded to tell her sales lead who was incompetent and did not realize what the employee had done and just told me to go back to the cashier.

I went back to the original department and the guy attempted to check the balance of my gift card and pretended to act surprised saying that there was nothing on the card. He then looked around on his register and surprisingly he found the gift card sitting there.

I would have gone home put this gift card away and not use it till I needed to buy something, if I didnt catch this there would be no recourse for me, It would be my word against theirs.

I reported this employee to both a manager who then gave me an additional $10 gift card for my inconvenience and to loss prevention department. I spoke with one of the managers and he said that this had also been happening in cosmetics, people getting blank gift cards, so be aware guys.

So my lesson now is to ask a different employee to double check any gift card refunds. I learned the hard way
21 replies
Deal Fanatic
Jun 11, 2005
8633 posts
2399 upvotes
Mississauga
I guess we shouldn`t be surprised this day and age. A little story, one of my customers was telling me about a proline ticket a few years ago that he won on that paid almost $900.00 dollars. He went to the variety store to verify he won and the clerk said the ticket was cancelled. To make a long story short after a 3 month investigation by the opp and the lotto corporation they determined the part time kid cancelled the ticket 5 minutes after my customer purchased it, hoping the ticket would be a loser because of a few long shots. They finally paid my customer for the winning ticket after 3 months and he never found out what happened to the kid that sold him the ticket. I just wonder how much money this kid was making.
Member
User avatar
Oct 14, 2008
226 posts
13 upvotes
Last Xmas I bought a gift card at Sears for my son-in-law. They just recently told me that the card was empty. They didn't want to say anything before. I wish they had told me right away. I will never purchase gift cards from Sears. This was in Langley, BC.
Member
User avatar
Apr 17, 2010
202 posts
47 upvotes
Toronto
I feel bad for you Horsie. That happened to me, but I caught the "mistake".

Ever since a Tim Horton's clerk tried to rip me off when I bought a gift card, I always obtain the gift card + activation receipt, and give both to the person I'm giving the gift to, so that doesn't happen to them.

Once I asked a Tim's clerk for a forty dollar gift card and handed her two twenty dollar bills.
She gave me the gift card and receipt, no change, and I left the store.
I looked at the slip and saw it was activated for only four dollars, not forty.

I went back and asked her, she said, "Oh I thought you asked for four dollars..."

I asked her, "So you think I wanted a four dollar gift card, or you thought I left you a thirty-six dollar tip? Do you sell many four dollar gift cards? Do people tip you on gift activations often??" She just glared and fixed it.

I'm some glad I checked before I gave that card to my dad, and ever since then I've always checked.
Deal Fanatic
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Aug 24, 2006
7423 posts
538 upvotes
Vancouver
Why are you so sure it was malicious? I remember a case where a co-worker sold a Wii game and gave them the display case with nothing inside instead of the actual copy. We didn't realize until after they'd left and since the customer paid with cash, there was no contact information. It was for Christmas too =( Fortunately they did come back after Christmas and we did the exchange. **** happens.
Jr. Member
Sep 21, 2010
131 posts
8 upvotes
This is a little off-topic, but I thought that I should share a similar cautionary tale.
I was recently talking to my family back in the UK, and the latest scam there is the 'cash back' fraud. Back home, it is quite common for supermarkets to offer "would you like cash back?" in addition to your purchases when paying with a debit card. It doesn't seem to be so common here in Canada, Walmart is the only store where I encounter this service.
Anyway, it seems that employees at the checkouts are adding unwanted cash backs to customer's transactions -mostly elderly customers who can sometimes (unfortunately) barely see/operate the debit pad and who generally don't check their receipt. As a result, most people don't even realise that an extra charge has been made.
Sad how people can take advantage of others like this, especially the elderly. :(
Deal Guru
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Aug 20, 2005
11319 posts
3867 upvotes
Nowhere
antigua1999 wrote: I guess we shouldn`t be surprised this day and age. A little story, one of my customers was telling me about a proline ticket a few years ago that he won on that paid almost $900.00 dollars. He went to the variety store to verify he won and the clerk said the ticket was cancelled. To make a long story short after a 3 month investigation by the opp and the lotto corporation they determined the part time kid cancelled the ticket 5 minutes after my customer purchased it, hoping the ticket would be a loser because of a few long shots. They finally paid my customer for the winning ticket after 3 months and he never found out what happened to the kid that sold him the ticket. I just wonder how much money this kid was making.

This of course is nothing compared to the family that stole someone's free ticket that ended up winning $12.5 million.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Aug 17, 2002
13524 posts
4710 upvotes
Tri-Cities (BC)
not surprised...i had superstore gift cards, that wasn't used for a few months and the number got used in interior BC and i don't live near there...
complained to superstore gc dept and got my card replaced with original amount purchased and then a week later saw superstore upgraded their software for the giftcard stuff :lol:
Penalty Box
User avatar
Nov 13, 2010
7814 posts
1867 upvotes
Scarborough
Do you expect minimum wage workers to really care and be honest?

Corruption on the rise in Canada.
Member
Nov 4, 2008
411 posts
21 upvotes
Toronto
transitguy1 wrote: Do you expect minimum wage workers to really care and be honest?

Corruption on the rise in Canada.

Ummm, ya kinda. :-0
Member
User avatar
Apr 17, 2010
202 posts
47 upvotes
Toronto
Firestorm wrote: Why are you so sure it was malicious?
Based on personal experience from working at Tim's, any tip over a quarter was worth getting excited about, plus the look on her face when I walked back in, like "Oh no" was stamped on her. She also said "Forty" as I handed her the money.
Deal Guru
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Apr 24, 2006
10913 posts
1064 upvotes
Mississauga
Firestorm wrote: Why are you so sure it was malicious? I remember a case where a co-worker sold a Wii game and gave them the display case with nothing inside instead of the actual copy. We didn't realize until after they'd left and since the customer paid with cash, there was no contact information. It was for Christmas too =( Fortunately they did come back after Christmas and we did the exchange. **** happens.

It does happen, but not in these 2 circumstances.

Op's case - cashier wanted to put money onto his own card, he knew what he was doing and knew he was stealing that money

Tim Horton's case - It would of been acceptable, if the cashier didn't say "Oh I thought you wanted only $4", after receiving $40.

So yes, it is quite clear in both cases, it was done on purpose and with the sole purpose of stealing money.
Banned
May 12, 2004
9756 posts
4136 upvotes
Ottawa
transitguy1 wrote: Do you expect minimum wage workers to really care and be honest?

Corruption on the rise in Canada.

I completely agree. You can't expect all students making $9.50/hr to not be tempted when 1000's of dollars go through their hands. Yeah some are honest, but many people will prey on the vulnerable.

We need to be on the lookout for these scams. If a store scams you tell the manager you'll boycitt them even if they have nothing to do with the actual fraud. It's the only way they'll up their employee screening, reference checks and fire these thieves on the spot. At the end of the day customers get screwed and store passes on the blame omto the thief...but how often do they get rid of these thieves?
Deal Addict
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Dec 27, 2003
1066 posts
869 upvotes
Toronto
This happened to me at Indigo. I was paying with a gc and had a few in my wallet (I'm a teacher and I always get a few at Christmas and in June).

The clerk says that she can combine the gift cards and put them on just one. I thought that it was ok so I let her.

I didn't find out till a couple of months later, that she helped herself to $25 of my giftcards.

So lesson learned ALWAYS check the balance.
Deal Guru
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Aug 20, 2005
11319 posts
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Nowhere
Cas77 wrote: I completely agree. You can't expect all students making $9.50/hr to not be tempted when 1000's of dollars go through their hands. Yeah some are honest, but many people will prey on the vulnerable.

I spent many years working retail and the reality is that the majority of people are honest and an extremely small minority are not. I have seen many cashiers make mistakes due to incompetence but can only think of one instance where someone was knowingly scamming money and she got arrested. I worked retail as a student when I lived paycheque to paycheque handling thousands of dollars of cash each day (back when all transactions were cash), and would never have even thought of taking anything. For most low paid workers, keeping the job is more important than a one time scam of a few backs. There are a variety of checks and balances in place to make sure these things don't happen. In fact these days with cameras in stores and mystery shoppers, you never know who is watching you. I really wish that people would stop implying that minimum wage workers are thieves.
Deal Addict
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Nov 10, 2003
1608 posts
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Hampton
I have worked in retail and agree most people in the industry are honest. Unfortunately every store has a story of fraud in its history at some stage, but that happens anywhere that an opporrtunity to steal is available to people, bot just retail. I will say that the problem is always worse leading up to the holidays and just after because of the largw number of temp staff who have less to lose quite often.
Deal Expert
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Aug 18, 2005
21223 posts
5939 upvotes
Burlington-Hamilton
JonnyIreland wrote:
Anyway, it seems that employees at the checkouts are adding unwanted cash backs to customer's transactions -mostly elderly customers who can sometimes (unfortunately) barely see/operate the debit pad and who generally don't check their receipt. As a result, most people don't even realise that an extra charge has been made.
Sad how people can take advantage of others like this, especially the elderly. :(

Wow, this is a good reason to use those automated check-outs at the grocery store!

This thread is a great reminder about all the scams out there. Please keep the stories coming!
- casual gastronomist -
Deal Fanatic
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Jun 19, 2001
9537 posts
3185 upvotes
I think you can dig up some published stats finding management is responsible for more theft then the lowly clerks.

Locally at one point the former general manager of Future Shop was convicted of fraud with a house arrest sentence. He wasn't stealing from the customers, he had discovered a quirk with their accounting to do with making a large number of purchases and returns that would increase his performance bonus. They had considered him a star in the company for it lol.
If you aren't willing to take small losses, then you will take big losses. This is my guarantee. -
Mark Minervini
Deal Addict
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Nov 10, 2003
1608 posts
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Hampton
Managers don't commit fraud more often but when they do the amounts are larger since they have more at stake and access to procedures where these opportunities arise. A manager will steal from the store (which raises prices), the clerk steals from you.
Deal Addict
Jan 29, 2006
1942 posts
1746 upvotes
Center of the univer…
Getting paid minimum wage is no excuse for committing fraud. Minimum wage is quite decent now compared to when I was getting minumum wage in my highschool days. That's almost like saying a bank teller which gets paid maybe $40,000 should commit fraud since he's not getting paid high enough to deal with large sums of cash on a daily basis.

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