Drew’s Daily Deliberations

One constant in life is innovation. People always try to improve on someone else’s ideas. Take for instance the young lad who scammed Target for a $4.99 iPod by using a false barcode. Not bad, but he was still out $4.99. What if the store paid you to buy that iPod?

Some folks in Edmonton think they have the answer. Simply attach a lower priced bar code, make the purchase, remove the barcode, and return the iPod (or other item) for the list price. And repeat. To the tune of a million dollars or more. This scam was accidentally uncovered during a traffic stop for unrelated outstanding warrants in which the officer found numerous sheets of UPC codes. After some investigation as to what purpose these UPC codes might serve, the police contacted major retailers in the area. Some quickly noted that they had inventory statistics that were not adding up. These retailers have consumer friendly return policies that do not require the receipt for returns, which was critical for the scam to work.

Further investigation is ongoing to track down those responsible. However, it has been discovered that the perpetrators were using mobile equipment to print the barcodes in cars parked outside the stores. Police think that by withholding specific details on the types of equipment used, they can prevent copycat criminals. Apparently they are unaware of the Digg effect. The most startling issue is that these criminals got away with this for so long.

This type of scam is not at all new. There were two couples that defrauded Walmart to the tune of $1.5 million over the course of a decade. Home Depot got hit as well. It seems Target is a favorite for this type of thing.

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