Reading a couple of other threads piqued my interest on retail return scams. So I thought I'd start a new thread so we could compare notes and find out how customers try to beat the system (and how we can stop them!). So far, here are the ones I know about:
- Receipt Fraud: Scammer acquires receipt tape for your store, prints out his own receipts and makes multiple returns of an item bought elsewhere for less. Also, people buying and selling live receipts (where the item was paid for with cash). Not sure if there's a way to combat that without some kind of central database....
- Renting: Scammer buys an item, uses it then returns it, in essence getting a free rental of that item. I would presume that asking the customer a lot of questions about why he is returning it and offering an exchange at every opportunity will help deter this.
- Switching: Scammer buys two similar items with different prices, then switches them so he can return the cheaper item in the more expensive item's packaging (thereby effectively buying the more expensive item at the cheaper price).
What else do scammers try?
- Receipt Fraud: Scammer acquires receipt tape for your store, prints out his own receipts and makes multiple returns of an item bought elsewhere for less. Also, people buying and selling live receipts (where the item was paid for with cash). Not sure if there's a way to combat that without some kind of central database....
- Renting: Scammer buys an item, uses it then returns it, in essence getting a free rental of that item. I would presume that asking the customer a lot of questions about why he is returning it and offering an exchange at every opportunity will help deter this.
- Switching: Scammer buys two similar items with different prices, then switches them so he can return the cheaper item in the more expensive item's packaging (thereby effectively buying the more expensive item at the cheaper price).
What else do scammers try?
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