Archived Just a heads up about a potential scam

[JJtheJetPlane]

So, I don't know if this is a nationwide scam, but I thought I'd share:

Apparently, yesterday afternoon a guy came into our store and got $3000 worth of those Visa pre-paid gift cards, and s o m e h o w convinced the cashier to ring it through as a cash payment without putting any cash in the register. I honestly have no idea what that guy said, but it happened.

Front end people: I guess just watch out for this? Thoughts?

 

[allnew2]

So, I don't know if this is a nationwide scam, but I thought I'd share:

Apparently, yesterday afternoon a guy came into our store and got $3000 worth of those Visa pre-paid gift cards, and s o m e h o w convinced the cashier to ring it through as a cash payment without putting any cash in the register. I honestly have no idea what that guy said, but it happened.

Front end people: I guess just watch out for this? Thoughts?

It’s an old scam the cashier should have called the gstl or Ap

 

[JJtheJetPlane]

It’s an old scam the cashier should have called the gstl or Ap

Do you know how they do it? Like, what do they say, I'm just confused by how it happens

 

[qmosqueen]

whats the scam ?? no money how, cashier stupid as fuck

 

[Dog]

It’s called the K1 scam. The scammer shows the cashier a card which says “cash card” on it and tells the cashier to kit K1 twice for cash while they swipe a dummy card. They then give the cashier the card to put in the register, and the gift cards all get activated. Do not ever hit the cash button on a register unless actual cash is involved. This scam hit my store and several others in my area.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

K1 Scam. Been going on all over the country. Started out west near California and the trend has been working itself east since last year.

 

[Llamanatee]

It’s called the K1 scam. The scammer shows the cashier a card which says “cash card” on it and tells the cashier to kit K1 twice for cash while they swipe a dummy card. They then give the cashier the card to put in the register, and the gift cards all get activated. Do not ever hit the cash button on a register unless actual cash is involved. This scam hit my store and several others in my area.

I never let anyone I'm ringing up tell me what to do on the register. The few times that has happened I've cancelled the transaction and called AP if the person doesn't run off.

 

[countingsheep]

Same here dont EVER let someone tell you how to ring. Had that happen with a funky looking cashier check type thing. He told me to hit other checks and claimed he used to work at target. Called my gstl when he tried to hand me the check and he booked it. People are stupid your job is to not be stupider than them

 

[Dog]

I never let anyone I'm ringing up tell me what to do on the register. The few times that has happened I've cancelled the transaction and called AP if the person doesn't run off.

Absolutely right, I had some lady tell me to hit “accept anyway” on a bunch of fraud coupons so I played dumb and called the GSTL over saying I was worried I was going to get in trouble and she was like “NO STOP!!! I’m a GSTL at another target!!!” and started backpedaling taking back the coupons 😂

 

[MIRSlave]

My store has seen this recently. They're bad at picking cashiers though, they keep picking the few that have been here forever.

Perhaps they're just seeing if they ran out of fucks to give?

 

[idkwhattodo]

this hit us a few months ago. luckily the lady tried it on me and i had none of it. i had heard of it previously from here, but never seen it at my store. told my gstl about it and she was surprised to hear it. we warned all the cashiers and had a mini huddle (just a paper passed around) about it.

then like two weeks later AP told us it had hit a bunch of stores in the district pretty badly. my general rule is never let a guest tell you what to do especially if they mention specific k keys.

 

[idkwhattodo]

But I actually do have a heads up about another potential scam that might hit you guys:

We’ve recently had people select items, grab a target bag, fill the bags with merchandise and leave them by the registers. Then they call claiming they forgot a paid and left. I ask if they have reciept and they same “it should be in the bag.” or something along those lines. They know exactly what was left and the general area which is was left, so it makes it seem legit because this does happen often.

I had a woman screaming at me about a bunch of dvds that were left behind the other night. She called knew exactly what movies... and it was seven movies, so pricey. I start questioning date, time, what else she purchased because no reciept and I said I’d have to look the transaction up. She started screaming to the point that my ETL-AP could hear from the AP office and came out to help me. He ended apping her and her friend (for a bunch of stuff in a stroller) on her way out after we told her she needed to produce a receipt or give us exact date/time & register.

I called AP over a couple of paid and lefts as soon as we’ve found them recently (if no cashier had memory of it happening) and they’ve caught a few more people doing this, so idk if this is already a thing or a new thing.

 

[Pinballmaster]

Thanks for posting this stuff guys. I haven't seen either of these scams, but it's good to be educated on them.

 

[Dog]

Thanks for the heads up @idkwhattodo

 

[cashiergirl12]

These scams are exactly why I (GSTL) have a one on one with each new cashier when they start and then about a week or two later. I always tell them on their very first shift. My 2 biggest rules are: 1. Dont ever press K1 until you physically have all cash in hand and 2. When a guest is telling you how to do your job (what keys to press,etc) it is fishy and they right away need to call a GSTL/GSA over. We also get the people coming in with stolen cards trying to buy Visa gift cards and I let my cashiers know any gift card purchases over $50 (Visa, target, iTunes etc) GSTL/GSAs have to verify IDs and the card they're purchasing with to make sure names match.

 

[JJtheJetPlane]

Thank you so much guys! I was just really confused because my TL who told me about it wasn't there and didn't actually see it, so I wanted to make sure I knew what to look for.

 

[Anelmi]

Here's another potential scam....

The other night a guy had a few high dollar electronics items, totalling more than $1K. Purchased with gift cards. Had proper receipts. So on the face, it looks okay. But the purchase happened in another *state* the day before. Gets gift cards back for refund. Called AP over after the fact and they just said "hmmmm looks interesting."

Something fishy is going on....

 

[can't touch this]

Gets gift cards back for refund.

My guess is that he pulled some scam to get a bunch of free gift cards and then returned the stuff expecting to get cash, but was smart enough to avoid causing a scene about it and potentially getting caught. He probably went home thinking "fuck now I gotta drive some more and try again"

 

[CoolLife24]

LOL that’s for sure a scam some cashiers are super clueless like on a busy day something sketchy happens but too busy to notice or doesn’t seem like they know too much and sadly fall for it

 

[FlowTeamChick]

And with Black Friday coming up when often brand new cashiers are on registers - oy, the opportunities for scammers!

 

[YoNanas]

I wonder if he's good at scamming Vegas too

 

[starmaster1000]

The new cashiers at my store don't even know how to print gift receipts after the transaction is finished. ☹️

 

[Anelmi]

The old cashiers at my store don’t either....😐

 

[Frontlanegirl]

The new cashiers at my store don't even know how to print gift receipts after the transaction is finished. ☹️

And it pisses me off when the guest is sent to GS to get one. I either get on the walkie with the GSTL or will walk over to the CL and show them how to do it.