A Walmart cashier from Shreveport, LA was caught copying down customer's credit card numbers and using them to buy items from the store where she worked. As you can imagine, the police caught on to this brilliant scam pretty quickly. She was arrested when credit card numbers were found in her purse. [KSLA]
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This happens from time to time with anyone who comes in contact with CC numbers. Several people at the call center I worked at got busted for this. There was no background check or drug test required for employment. If you could speak passable english and were willing to show up to work everyday, they took you.
I seem to recall stories on Consumerist saying Circuit City and Best Best buy employees have been caught doing the same thing.
When I worked at Marriott many years ago, their dinosaur reservations system used to display the entire cc number complete with expiration date, home address and just about anything else you'd need. The sleezy valet parkers always used to attempt to sneak behind the front desk and pull some up. They were about as smart as the Wal-Mart employee seems to be.
@dragonfire81: Would a drug test really do anything, though? Drug tests are pointless. Do you know easy it is to fake a drug test for employment?
Also, it's likely this person had a perfectly fine background check, no priors or anything.
Surely there are more clever ways to steal from people.
What a dumbass! Shopping at the same store you work, guess she was too lazy and not too smart....
I think people should note something. The people who usually do this copy the numbers down. It's rare we hear of a genius/idiot savant w/photographic memory pulling off schemes like this.
The fact that she was able to get away with this means that the CSMs at the store must not have been doing their job properly. You can only do a handkeyed credit transaction at Wal-Mart with the card and in order to override it the CSMs have to make a carbon copy of your credit card and have you sign that slip.
@ceilingFANBOY: I wonder how many times she did this. The story reads like this could have been the only time she did it, which explains why she was caught. The managers/loss prevention may have allowed her to make the purchase to complete "the act" before swooping in.
When I worked at a gas station, our overnight guy tried to take $50 by using the Amex machine to charge $50 to a customers amex card. Sadly, the idiot hit the "credit" button, which actually subtracted money from his till and gave it to the Amex card. He then had to make two $50 charges to try and take the money, and something flagged the transaction when he tried putting the 2nd $50 debit in, so he came out even.
By definition only dumb criminals get caught.
Man, my nana who lives in Shreveport-my hometown-is going to rub this in my face. We always try to get her to use her debit card, but she insists on writing checks.
@nakedscience: I think a drug test is more or less to show that if you've got illegal drugs in your system, you're more prone to other illegal activities. I've never had a drug test, so I wouldn't know.
I really wonder how the hell she distracted the customers long enough to get the number. When you use a card swipe thing at stores these days, the cashier usually has your card in their possession for no more than 5 seconds. How was she able to hold the card, write down the number, and not get noticed?
My Aunt had this happen to her a few years ago at a Target. This lady pretended that her card couldn't go through and then did some stuff with it under the desk. When she contested the charges her signature was totally wrong, her name was even misspelled in it, hah.
@me and the sysop: She's right not to use a debit card. The buyer protections are as strong as a credit card, but they have the marked disadvantage that your checking account is empty while you are arguing with the bank.
The bank is a bit more motivated to help you with a credit card dispute, since it is their money that is on the line.
I don't think checks are an answer either... I prefer ATM cards. They can be used at most places that accept debit cards, and they are less dangerous if lost or stolen.
Distraction? All you need to do is remember the 16 digits on the card. She must be a math wizz
done the whole drug test thing, that seems pretty pointless as well, most people know it only takes a short time for drugs to clear your system (save hair).
If it makes my future employer feel better as I'm cleaning out the register, so be it.
"I seem to recall stories on Consumerist saying Circuit City and Best Best buy employees have been caught doing the same thing. "
Right, and I'm sure it never happens anywhere else. Sheesh people it's simple enough to pay attention to your card when the cashier asks to verify the last 4 digits on the card. If they are looking for more than 3 seconds, get it the fuck back. Better yet, cover the first 12 digits with tape or something.
I don't understand how this ever worked. "Here, hang on a second while I write something down."
Its this type of Stupid #@!& that makes Walmart looks bad. I'm a former WalMart employee, and this is NOT what Sam Walton wanted for his company. 95% of WalMart employees are good people, then you get people like this who screw it up for the others. No, im not saying a like what corporate does up top, i know they hurt small towns when they come in and all. And i know they put a metric Sh!t tone of pressure on suppliers to lower there prices, But that's bushiness.
@pecan 3.14159265: The drug test deal is for liability and reliability.
So that Johnny Forklift driver is not stoned while loading 10,000lb lead weights onto a shelf above some office or that Janey medical technician isn't prone to hit the drug sample cabinet for some extra pharms for herself...
Problem is that people even get warning of random drug testing and can not stop. We lost a good tech (who was from outward appearances "getting his life together") because he burned one at his good friends bachelor party about 25 days prior to the test.
Aside:
One of the funnier instances was the published random test list that included the ultra straight laced older lady who is our location's executive assistant and been with the company about 30 years. The plant workers got a kick out of that by saying that she was always toking up at lunch time in her Plymouth minivan with 24" rims and rap thumping sound system...
@joe18521:
They wouldn't have to steal if they earned a proper wage. Most people, if they're earning a living wage with appropriate benefits wouldn't risk job security to steal.
On the other hand, for Walmart to provide their employees with appropriate incomes some things would need to change: a) Walmart would have to consider being less greedy and funnel some of their profits back into their employees b) people have to pay more for their shit.
Guess we'll just see more CC thefts.
Walmart has some of the best security of any store out there (according to my brother in-law the cop) and all security video is archived. It would not be too hard to review the footage and see her writing the numbers down.
It was also brilliant of her to use it in the same store that she works in. Did she also use her employee discount card?
@Comms: Maybe I'm wrong, but I would assume that these people were stealing CC numbers to purchase iPods and video games... Not bread to feed their starving families.
@Oligarch_GitEmSteveDave: Yea, it is possible that they purposely let it go through just to catch the woman.
Last year one of my customers started receiving fraudulent charges on his checking account from a Wal-Mart halfway across the country. It took awhile, but it was finally tracked to a Wal-Mart he visited around here. Apparently his numbers were stolen and used to buy purchases across the country. Why they kept purchasing things at Wal-Mart is beyond me. It makes me paranoid now.
@Mike8813:
Agreed. I HATE Wal-Mart, but in this instance, we can't just automatically blame the big, heartless corporation. I think this same story would have surfaced even if the employee had been making a better wage. The people who are resorting to these means to steal aren't the people who are buying a loaf of bread or a box of tampons.
@nakedscience: WTH kind of dumbass scheme is that?
Answer: "A Walmart cashier from Shreveport, LA" 'nuff said
To those complaining about the whole show card/show ID with credit card use on Consumerist. THIS is why I do not let the cashier see anything. If they insist I will show that the card is signed as Visa says I must do. I hold my card in a way that they can see that it is signed and nothing else. Then give a quick flash of the card and NEVER let them see my ID to go with it. Never do I let them hold my card.
A common thing I see is that a card reader will not scan and the cashier says "let me see the card a minute" and they try to scan it themselves or use another reader that is on the cash register itself.
Best way to stay safe is to trust no one, ever. I would not show my card to my own mother let alone a underpaid cashier I do not know at all.
WTH kind of dumbass scheme is that? All it takes is one person to notice the fraudulent charge on their card!