Prepaid American Express Gift Card at Walmart Scam? (w/ Photos) *RESOLVED*

recklessmax said:   My question is to the experienced FWers who usually purchase the 500$ Visa or MC's with credit card, my question is around drivers license requirement For most stores where these are sold, they want to check your drivers license because of the amount being purchased especially if you have 2-3 in hand
as the register usually beeps and requires some over-ride

However there have been a couple of ocassions where i have been forced to give them the DL information to note it down on the receipt.This is where im really uncomfortable although i'm not trying to scam. I know it is illegal to make a copy/xerox of someones ID information but these stores says its okay for them to record information from DL on the register receipt. I don't want to argue too much to highlight the situation so i have given in a couple of times when this has happened

Anybody knows if there is any law governing noting down DLs information on receipts since who knows they can even make a copy of store receipt later and misuse it for identity theft. If there are scam artits on this side then im sure there is possibility of few bad apples on other side too

Please provide you inputs on how to deal with this or the store can force you to record this information if they like for making the purchase

My favorite is when the cashier writes down the DL# on MY receipt, then hands it to me.

Do you still have the packaging the gift card came in with the barcode? I'm not familiar with what the barcodes look like, or which type of encoding the barcodes uses, but I'm sure someone here would be able to translate it to the correct number, assuming the barcode translates to the correct credit card number that was supposedly in the packaging.

recklessmax said:   My question is to the experienced FWers who usually purchase the 500$ Visa or MC's with credit card, my question is around drivers license requirement For most stores where these are sold, they want to check your drivers license because of the amount being purchased especially if you have 2-3 in hand
as the register usually beeps and requires some over-ride

However there have been a couple of ocassions where i have been forced to give them the DL information to note it down on the receipt.This is where im really uncomfortable although i'm not trying to scam. I know it is illegal to make a copy/xerox of someones ID information but these stores says its okay for them to record information from DL on the register receipt. I don't want to argue too much to highlight the situation so i have given in a couple of times when this has happened

Anybody knows if there is any law governing noting down DLs information on receipts since who knows they can even make a copy of store receipt later and misuse it for identity theft. If there are scam artits on this side then im sure there is possibility of few bad apples on other side too

Please provide you inputs on how to deal with this or the store can force you to record this information if they like for making the purchase

Kroger/Smith's is recording my DL for purchases over >$75 it seems. They usually enter in into the POS - I have not seen it physically written on the receipts. The most I have done in a single transaction is $300, I haven't gone up to $500. (No, I am not a FWF cleanup hitter).

Sounds like the "activation" just adds money to the card whether it had previously been used or not.

But how do they "activate" if the mag strip is damaged? Don't the cards have to be swiped to activate?

DTASFAB said:   recklessmax said:   My question is to the experienced FWers who usually purchase the 500$ Visa or MC's with credit card, my question is around drivers license requirement For most stores where these are sold, they want to check your drivers license because of the amount being purchased especially if you have 2-3 in hand
as the register usually beeps and requires some over-ride

However there have been a couple of ocassions where i have been forced to give them the DL information to note it down on the receipt.This is where im really uncomfortable although i'm not trying to scam. I know it is illegal to make a copy/xerox of someones ID information but these stores says its okay for them to record information from DL on the register receipt. I don't want to argue too much to highlight the situation so i have given in a couple of times when this has happened

Anybody knows if there is any law governing noting down DLs information on receipts since who knows they can even make a copy of store receipt later and misuse it for identity theft. If there are scam artits on this side then im sure there is possibility of few bad apples on other side too

Please provide you inputs on how to deal with this or the store can force you to record this information if they like for making the purchase

I'd bring a copy of the AMEX statement with the matching account number to what's on your card. Tell them you have no problem providing proof of your identity and proof that the credit card account really belongs to you, but it's illegal for them to keep a record of your government ID number for a simple credit card transaction. YMMV

What law makes keeping a record illegal?? Now credit company policies are another story...

TrueKnight said:   I went to Lowes over the weekend and saw that all their prepaid cards has a window in the packaging that exposes an actual barcode on the card. Seems like a good idea but the scammers can always just print stickers of the barcodes of the cards that they've stolen and affix it to other cards on the shelf thereby activating the cards in their possession. I think we need to stop discussing about this. It's probably giving scammers new ideas.

Already printing mine off...making $ the FW way.

/Sarcasm

TrueKnight said:   I went to Lowes over the weekend and saw that all their prepaid cards has a window in the packaging that exposes an actual barcode on the card. Seems like a good idea but the scammers can always just print stickers of the barcodes of the cards that they've stolen and affix it to other cards on the shelf thereby activating the cards in their possession. I think we need to stop discussing about this. It's probably giving scammers new ideas.Why do you care? Maybe the GC makers will eventually learn a good lesson from this.

NEDeals said:   DTASFAB said:   recklessmax said:   My question is to the experienced FWers who usually purchase the 500$ Visa or MC's with credit card, my question is around drivers license requirement For most stores where these are sold, they want to check your drivers license because of the amount being purchased especially if you have 2-3 in hand
as the register usually beeps and requires some over-ride

However there have been a couple of ocassions where i have been forced to give them the DL information to note it down on the receipt.This is where im really uncomfortable although i'm not trying to scam. I know it is illegal to make a copy/xerox of someones ID information but these stores says its okay for them to record information from DL on the register receipt. I don't want to argue too much to highlight the situation so i have given in a couple of times when this has happened

Anybody knows if there is any law governing noting down DLs information on receipts since who knows they can even make a copy of store receipt later and misuse it for identity theft. If there are scam artits on this side then im sure there is possibility of few bad apples on other side too

Please provide you inputs on how to deal with this or the store can force you to record this information if they like for making the purchase

I'd bring a copy of the AMEX statement with the matching account number to what's on your card. Tell them you have no problem providing proof of your identity and proof that the credit card account really belongs to you, but it's illegal for them to keep a record of your government ID number for a simple credit card transaction. YMMV

What law makes keeping a record illegal?? Now credit company policies are another story...

sorry i am not completely clear on the law around this , this is what i have heard from multiple retail stores where i have purchased gift cards that by law they cannot make a photo copy of your id for doing credit card purchases. They can however note down the id information on receipt for book keeping if the purchase is a relatively high amount

recklessmax said:   NEDeals said:   DTASFAB said:   recklessmax said:   My question is to the experienced FWers who usually purchase the 500$ Visa or MC's with credit card, my question is around drivers license requirement For most stores where these are sold, they want to check your drivers license because of the amount being purchased especially if you have 2-3 in hand
as the register usually beeps and requires some over-ride

However there have been a couple of ocassions where i have been forced to give them the DL information to note it down on the receipt.This is where im really uncomfortable although i'm not trying to scam. I know it is illegal to make a copy/xerox of someones ID information but these stores says its okay for them to record information from DL on the register receipt. I don't want to argue too much to highlight the situation so i have given in a couple of times when this has happened

Anybody knows if there is any law governing noting down DLs information on receipts since who knows they can even make a copy of store receipt later and misuse it for identity theft. If there are scam artits on this side then im sure there is possibility of few bad apples on other side too

Please provide you inputs on how to deal with this or the store can force you to record this information if they like for making the purchase

I'd bring a copy of the AMEX statement with the matching account number to what's on your card. Tell them you have no problem providing proof of your identity and proof that the credit card account really belongs to you, but it's illegal for them to keep a record of your government ID number for a simple credit card transaction. YMMV

What law makes keeping a record illegal?? Now credit company policies are another story...

sorry i am not completely clear on the law around this , this is what i have heard from multiple retail stores where i have purchased gift cards that by law they cannot make a photo copy of your id for doing credit card purchases. They can however note down the id information on receipt for book keeping if the purchase is a relatively high amount

I'm not aware of any laws making it illegal to photograph a driver's license, but there are a lot of states and some of them could have such a law I suppose. It *is* against federal law to photograph a military ID (or any government *employee* ID), however. [18 USC §701] So a military member's CAC can't be photographed, but a contractor's CAC can. Makes sense.

john8486 said: I started using this new site called prepaid2cash
2030 Vallejo Street Suite 301
San Francisco, California 94123

=> an apartment building in San Francisco

Contact your local news stations. They will love the story.

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   Vanilla10 said:   TrueKnight said:   I went to Lowes over the weekend and saw that all their prepaid cards has a window in the packaging that exposes an actual barcode on the card. Seems like a good idea but the scammers can always just print stickers of the barcodes of the cards that they've stolen and affix it to other cards on the shelf thereby activating the cards in their possession. I think we need to stop discussing about this. It's probably giving scammers new ideas.

There are plenty of other sites where scammers get their ideas, and this one is hardly new or unknown.
I liked carderplanet and shadowcrew , what is your favorite ?

Favorite? I find Zoklet amusing.

qcumber98 said:   hashir said:   Contact your local news stations. They will love the story.I doubt it. This isn't exactly new.If they haven't done a story about it recently, it's new to them.

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   Usually Armenian scammers in LA

Whuzup with the ethnic stereotyping?
Not cool.

TrueKnight said:   
Okay, so now here's the kicker:

This card was purchased a week ago at WalMart. Accessing the transaction history on the card, it shows no activity for the months of May, April, March, February BUT shows the following for January of this year:

Transaction Date - Post Date - Description - Reference Number - Amount
01/17/2012 - 01/19/2012 - TARGET STORES 222 0222 17751 COLIMA CITY OF INDUSTRY 840 - Partial Purchase - P29CAI25355RYV00GD - $-100.00
01/13/2012 - 01/13/2012 - Wal-Mart US STORES - Value Load - 114575000YY0 - $100.00

This is a long shot but six years ago when I had some Target gift cards stolen. I happen to have a photocopy of the back of the card. Target corporate was able to locate the receipt of the purchases made by the thieves then I called the store's security where the purchases were made. Using the receipt information, they were able to tell me what was purchased (bolt cutters) and easily locate digital video of the culprits which they saved for the police. But of course the police detective was uninterested in returning my calls. Also, WalMart has a very sophisticated IT system in place so I'm sure with guidance they could help you as well.

Good! I'm glad to hear that you have a resolution
In the future, I definitely recommend being careful when buying gift cards, and I recommend doing so when they are below par ie when not paying a fee to make them cost more than dollar value ie $50 mastercards at Food Lion for $44.95 this week.

skh12 said:   so, where is the part where you "resolved" the pre-paid AMEX scam?

you just got your purchase refunded, it's not like the scam was busted up

Fixing AMEX's business model is most definitely not OP's problem (and I wouldn't expect him to go that far).

What he did do was write a well written post with supporting pics. We can all forward a link to everyone we know to let people know just how silly it is to tie your cash up in Gift Cards. If you are truly interested in fixing the problem, help the OP with adding tags and buzzwords to make this thread more searchable in Google.

I'm still confused on when it became uncool to give cash as a gift. I personally don't touch them until the reward exceeds 10%.

Green for OP for writing the post, and green again for posting the followup.

Vanilla10 said:   tuphat said:   SUCKISSTAPLES said:   Usually Armenian scammers in LA

Whuzup with the ethnic stereotyping?
Not cool.

C'mon, he did say "usually."

So sorry, mein herr.
I still dare him to walk into Carousel on Hollywood Blvd and say something like that.