One Texas man decided to make “go big or go home” his mantra during a recent trip to Home Depot.
Police say a 27-year-old San Antonio man stole more than $11,000 worth of products at half a dozen Home Depot stores, then returned them for the same amount in store gift cards. Of course, he’s innocent until proven guilty, but if what the police allege is true, that’s a lot of stolen items.
That’s certainly one (very illegal) way to get a discount on your home improvement needs! Don’t try this at home, please.
Police said that Home Depot’s security team uncovered the man’s plot when they watched some surveillance footage of him entering the store empty-handed, then grabbing products off the shelves and stuffing them into Home Depot bags that he had pulled out of his pockets. Next, he walked over to the customer service desk and returned the items for store credit.
After leaving the store, the man sold the gift cards on Facebook for a discount.
In just one day he got more than $3,200 in store credit from six Home Depots. When police arrested him last month, he was charged with additional counts for other thefts.
Apparently this isn’t even the biggest case of stolen/returned merchandise. Last year, police in California arrested a mother-daughter duo for allegedly stealing $28,000 worth of merchandise from Target. This team switched barcodes on items and made 378 return transactions to make some money
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[H/t Consumerist]
About the Author
Sarah Kuta is an award-winning writer and editor based in Colorado. She writes regularly about how to find deals, save money and find side gigs. Reach her at sarah@dontwasteyourmoney.com. More.
