Nomination for idiot[s] of the century

[CatsLairArchives]

Technically, I did not see this happen - I helped discover the fact that it did....

I went to buy a card to add airtime to my phone, to see that - as usual - the 20.00 ones were all gone. So I asked one of the employees when they might be getting more. Checking the Telxon, the employee said the computer showed 15 cards in stock, on the shelf.

And THAT is when we were thrown sidelong into.... BIZAROLAND.

Those 15 cards were not on the shelf, not in the stockroom, NO-WHERE IN THE STORE.

Discussing it with two several employees, the only thing that could explain the disappearance of those cards is that they had been pocketed by a would-be shoplifter[s], who no doubt thought he/they could either add a lot of free airtime to their phone[s] or sell the airtime to others........



Pardon my language, but....

MY GOD, how brainfried do you have to be to steal airtime cards and not understand that they need to be scanned at the register in order to be activated.

No scan = no airtime = pretty colored cardboard worth about 2 cents.

[Jay 2K Winger]

May not be the way it works at a convenience store, but at the wholesale club, the store's inventory listing did not update until overnights, I think around midnight. Thus, if the computer showed we had, say, 3 of <Product X>, but they weren't on the shelf or sales floor, and they couldn't be spotted in the backstock, then the most reasonable explanation would be that we'd already sold those 3 <Product X> to other shoppers.

The system also showed how many we had on order, but not when they would actually arrive.

[PepperElf]

at my last job the inventory update was usually immediate. so if something was in the system, but not on the floor and not in the warehouse then it was either missing - or in someone's hands as they were shopping.

[EvilEmpryss]

Stealing unactivated cards can be very profitable. You wouldn't believe how stupid people on Craigslist can be. People have been known to steal gift cards and telephone minute cards and then list them on Craigslist at "discounted" prices: a $50 iTunes card for only $20 along with some sob story about having gotten it for a gift but not wanting to buy/not using iTunes and needing the money. Sucker takes the bait and gets a blank card for his greed.

[CatsLairArchives]

Stealing unactivated cards can be very profitable. You wouldn't believe how stupid people on Craigslist can be. People have been known to steal gift cards and telephone minute cards and then list them on Craigslist at "discounted" prices: a $50 iTunes card for only $20 along with some sob story about having gotten it for a gift but not wanting to buy/not using iTunes and needing the money. Sucker takes the bait and gets a blank card for his greed.

Thank you for mentioning that - now I am off to search craigslist, ebay, amazon, etc for 20.00 phone cards for sale in my area.

''To the batmobile, there's not a moment to lose''

[the lawsmeister]

Discussing it with two several employees, the only thing that could explain the disappearance of those cards is that they had been pocketed by a would-be shoplifter[s], who no doubt thought he/they could either add a lot of free airtime to their phone[s] or sell the airtime to others........



Pardon my language, but....

MY GOD, how brainfried do you have to be to steal airtime cards and not understand that they need to be scanned at the register in order to be activated.

No scan = no airtime = pretty colored cardboard worth about 2 cents.

I worked for a company that sold "live" cards, ie they didn't need to be activated at the register. A couple of cartons went missing once and we had to get the provider to suspend all redemption codes from that batch until they were found. So much easier when they switched to the register activated cards.

[Dreamstalker]

Some of the cards we have aren't in sealed packs; the card is just adhered to a backing. So in theory someone could note down the card # and PIN, and keep trying to use that number online until it works. We did have a couple Green Apron cards where the PIN didn't even have a coating over it (so if the number and PIN had been lifted, there was no way to tell).

It amuses me when I find that gift cards we sell have walked off...all the hangers say in big letters "CARD HAS NO VALUE UNTIL ACTIVATED". How do the thieves think they're going to activate them?

...oh yeah, at the self-checkouts (I'm still waiting for SM to act on my idea to post signs "gift cards cannot be purchased at these registers", I'm getting tired of having to explain that and getting yelled at)

[siskaren]

...oh yeah, at the self-checkouts (I'm still waiting for SM to act on my idea to post signs "gift cards cannot be purchased at these registers", I'm getting tired of having to explain that and getting yelled at)

That's interesting because the grocery store I go to does have signs like that at the SCOs. It seems to me it should be a no-brainer.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Stealing unactivated cards can be very profitable. You wouldn't believe how stupid people on Craigslist can be. People have been known to steal gift cards and telephone minute cards and then list them on Craigslist at "discounted" prices: a $50 iTunes card for only $20 along with some sob story about having gotten it for a gift but not wanting to buy/not using iTunes and needing the money. Sucker takes the bait and gets a blank card for his greed.

Had the same thing happen with store gift cards some years back. Some people stole the cards, then tried to sell them to others claiming they didn't want them. Or something.

They know the cards have no value until activated at the register. They're selling them to suckers.

[EvilEmpryss]

It amuses me when I find that gift cards we sell have walked off...all the hangers say in big letters "CARD HAS NO VALUE UNTIL ACTIVATED". How do the thieves think they're going to activate them?

Weeellll... I had an odd situation that I wasn't sure how to handle, just because of those signs.

My son (something like five years old at the time) saw a Pokemon (or some other popular cartoon-themed picture) gift card, and because the sign said they had no value he took that to mean that they were free. I didn't know he'd picked one up until I saw him playing with it a few days later.

I admit that I was torn about what to do about it. He'd scratched the stuff off the back, so it was no good anymore. They held no value, but they *could* have been used to attract a purchase. While I made sure to teach him that it wasn't his and he shouldn't have taken it, I honestly wasn't sure if it was technically theft or not.

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Oh, and the way I heard the gift card scam actually succeed:
- Seller legitimately buys a card, usually something that can be used online.
- Seller posts on Craigslist that they have a $50 card they want $25 cash for it.
- Buyer meets seller somewhere public and the Seller allows the Buyer to call the number on the card to verify the balance.
- Buyer is content and hands over the cash.
- Seller already has an accomplice on a computer using the card to purchase stuff and the card is empty before the Buyer has even cleared the parking lot.

Buyer doesn't realize this until they get home and try to go shopping online. By that time there's no way to find the Seller and cops won't bother with chump change crimes like that.

Buying gift cards off Craigslist is generally a no-no, no matter how smart you think you are. Sure, there might be a legitimate seller out there, but really not likely.

[Dreamstalker]

That's interesting because the grocery store I go to does have signs like that at the SCOs. It seems to me it should be a no-brainer.

There's a LOT of stuff at my store that should be a no-brainer but still isn't done.

EE, I never knew that about the CL scam. Makes sense though...

There are a lot of similar gift-card scams on Ebay; either the seller is selling a card they know to be inactive, or the 'verification' photo they took of the back was too good and somebody else yoinks the number from the listing and uses it (would only work for PIN-less cards) without anyone noticing.