Answered Scam???

[YounginWithDream]

Hello! Some shady stuff going on! Let me list what occurred;

1. A guy had 2 "capri-suns" 12 ct and a gift card.
2. entered the amount of $200 on the giftcard
3. scanned both capri suns
4. added a bag ( which we charge for )
5. Then tried to pay, the payment canceled then he asked me to cancel the translation.
6. I instead voided the transaction thinking it was a scam because this type of stuff has happened before and I didn't want them to think the gift card would have any value.
7. Minutes later the same thing happened with a different guy, everything the same besides the type of payment ( however it still declined the payment)

So this has happened before and the security team took notes while not knowing the sole reason for this occurring. I'm asking what you think they were doing! thanks

 

[R555]

Another guy with Capri-Sun? I don't know. That seems weird. Maybe you left out something. Maybe you need to break this into more steps. There may be a reason for a move you probably didn't even think to write down because it seemed insignificant.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

They were using a stolen credit card, that been cut off by the bank.

 

[Dream Baby]

He is trying to use a stolen credit card IMHO. If you buy a gift card it is automatically activated and can be used immediately. That same person would probably use that gift card to buy electronics.

When we first stated doing OPU/Drive-Ups I started seeing orders of single ramen noodles popping up in the storage bins. I told management that they were testing stolen credit cards.

I think ramen noodles are the cheapest item we sell at less than 20 cents.

 

[buliSBI]

Stolen credit card + gift card.

If the POS denied a gift card payment, they probably bought the card with a stolen credit card just prior. And the gift card was deactivated after it was flagged.

 

[redeye58]

If you buy a gift card it is automatically activated and can be used immediately.

Only if the transaction goes thru.

 

[YounginWithDream]

Thanks for everyone’s replies this makes a lot more sense, will let my people know have a good one.

 

[YounginWithDream]

Th

Another guy with Capri-Sun? I don't know. That seems weird. Maybe you left out something. Maybe you need to break this into more steps. There may be a reason for a move you probably didn't even think to write down because it seemed insignificant.

I failed to mention is it was busy at self checkout about 7:30 pm. As well as the card they tried to pay with was loaded onto their phones, looked like Apple Pay. They both tried to pay this way and it didn’t go through.

 

[Anelmi]

Apple Pay requires validation from the bank/credit card so I doubt they would be able to load a stolen credit/debit card onto it.

 

[R555]

I failed to mention is it was busy at self checkout about 7:30 pm. As well as the card they tried to pay with was loaded onto their phones, looked like Apple Pay. They both tried to pay this way and it didn’t go through.

OK, they may have loaded the same card into their apps. It sounds like they both tried self checkout for the gift cards. At a high volume store where I worked, they would lie to the guests and say the cards don't activate at self checkout so they would go to a register.

Apple Pay requires validation from the bank/credit card so I doubt they would be able to load a stolen credit/debit card onto it.

They somehow get it to work. I worked at a high volume store and it happened all the time.

 

[jackandcat]

It just dawned on me: in addition to the stolen-credit-card aspect, why exactly does Target allow purchase of prepaid American Excess/Visa/Mastercard gift cards with a credit card?

Credit card issuers can and do restrict credit cards from gambling transactions, including lottery tickets, plus other "prohibited" categories. Even if the card issuer doesn't prohibit buying prepaid cards, does that mean Target should do so? IMHO prepaid cards should be paid for only with U.S. currency or PIN-based debit to reduce the incidence of these scams.

P.S. "American Excess" is not a typo.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

It just dawned on me: in addition to the stolen-credit-card aspect, why exactly does Target allow purchase of prepaid American Excess/Visa/Mastercard gift cards with a credit card?

Credit card issuers can and do restrict credit cards from gambling transactions, including lottery tickets, plus other "prohibited" categories. Even if the card issuer doesn't prohibit buying prepaid cards, does that mean Target should do so? IMHO prepaid cards should be paid for only with U.S. currency or PIN-based debit to reduce the incidence of these scams.

P.S. "American Excess" is not a typo.

target doesn't report to card issuers what's in the transaction-- so card issuers can't stop it. as for us-- many of our higher wealth shoppers only use credit cards.

 

[IWishIKnew]

why exactly does Target allow purchase of prepaid American Excess/Visa/Mastercard gift cards with a credit card?

Because lots and lots of those cards are purchased by companies for giveaways and whatnot to employees, so they want to be able to use their corporate credit cards for expense purposes.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

It just dawned on me: in addition to the stolen-credit-card aspect, why exactly does Target allow purchase of prepaid American Excess/Visa/Mastercard gift cards with a credit card?

Credit card issuers can and do restrict credit cards from gambling transactions, including lottery tickets, plus other "prohibited" categories. Even if the card issuer doesn't prohibit buying prepaid cards, does that mean Target should do so? IMHO prepaid cards should be paid for only with U.S. currency or PIN-based debit to reduce the incidence of these scams.

P.S. "American Excess" is not a typo.

Not to mention it only happens once (per stolen card). Customer would immediately do chargeback, and target would decline all future transactions with that card

 

[Tarshitsucks]

Ah good old scammers. I mean it's hard enough to get paycheck at Tarshit with their penny pinching and their hour skimping. But it's people like this that really piss me off taking somebody else hard earned money just because it's tough to get a job or I don't want one. I know times are tough but it makes it hard on the person scammed,the store being scammed and the store employees/police officers who have deal with the scammer.

 

[jackandcat]

Ah good old scammers. I mean it's hard enough to get paycheck at Tarshit with their penny pinching and their hour skimping. But it's people like this that really piss me off taking somebody else hard earned money just because it's tough to get a job or I don't want one. I know times are tough but it makes it hard on the person scammed,the store being scammed and the store employees/police officers who have deal with the scammer.

I couldn't have said it better. Scammers know they are stealing. They play "dumb as a fox" when they are outed. They are good at the art of the "sob story", or BS about "I left my wallet in the car". Sometimes they intentionally waste the time of our TLs, ETLs, AP and police so that in the meantime their conspiring cohorts (perps) can continue stealing from the store while our staff are distracted dealing with the first perp.