Walmart Cash Back Scam: Are Cashiers Stealing Money From Debit Transactions?
Reports of a Walmart cash back scam are circulating online through Facebook posts and shares.
However, it has been confirmed that the claims are absolutely false and not as “recent” as many people might think.
A scanned copy of what appears to be a customer’s Walmart receipt is apparently making its rounds via the social media platform.
The questionable debit transaction of $40 cash back, which is circled on the receipt, was further explained in great detail within the photo’s caption.
According to the lengthy caption, a Walmart customer purchased over $150 of items from the store. As the cashier allegedly handed them their bags, the customer noticed a cash back amount on the receipt of $40. The customer tried to have the cash back transaction reversed since it would have been processed against their Discover card as a cash advance.
~new Walmart scam…cashier selects cash back for you but doesn’t give you cash back, hands the money to the person behind you. ??receipts
— Tiffane Monique (@TiffRozayyy) January 11, 2016
Watch out for this #Walmart scam. Cashiers are choosing cash back and pocketing your money! Go to #target pic.twitter.com/2RschkeCIQ
— ckhawley09 (@Hawley11511) January 9, 2016
However, even the supervisor allegedly told them that there was nothing that could be done to fix it besides delete the entire order and start the entire transaction over again.
The second transaction went through just fine without any accidental cash back withdrawals, so the cashier “agreed that the electronic pad must be defective.”
The same Facebook post later discusses several other cases of people that were victimized by the alleged Walmart cash back scam — including a customer that visited a Walmart in another location, as well as a couple shopping in the North Salisbury location.
The lengthy caption concludes by advising readers to share the post with all of their “friends, kids [and] loved ones.”
The Truth about the Walmart Cash Back Scam
According to the Better Business Bureau, the now-viral Walmart receipt is actually a scam in itself. It may seem like a recent occurrence, especially since the caption claims it happened “a month ago.” However, this scam has actually been surfacing and circulating for several years now.
The date on the bottom of the receipt is June 8, 2013 — nearly three years ago. In an article published by the BBB back in November of the same year, it was clearly identified as a fraudulent scam gone viral.
“Claiming that cashiers are secretly charging cash back amounts to customers’ receipts, the scam purports that the cashier is pocketing the customer’s money without the customer’s knowledge. This viral claim has received half a million shares and typically features a picture of the supposed victim’s receipt.”
The report about the Walmart cash back scam further explained that “it is impossible for cashiers to initiate a cash-back transaction without the knowledge and involvement of the customer.”
Origins: Versions of this “WalMart cash back scam” e-mail warning have been circulating since late 2004, all of… http://t.co/7YYzJUEU13
— Jerry (@jerryputnal) August 5, 2014
Before you post some crazy thing like the cash back scam at Walmart…do yourself a favor and Google it and check… https://t.co/rS7LrZuQR0
— Tammy Dennings Maggy (@dochappycamper) October 30, 2015
Walmart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling confirmed that herself with an e-mailed statement to the BBB which read that “the customer is the only one who can prompt the cashier to give cash back.”
This is not the first fraudulent Walmart scam that has gone viral on Facebook in recent months. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, fraudulent coupons advertising 40 and 50 percent off entire purchases surfaced online during the holiday season.
The Walmart cash back scam is apparently just another online scam that needs to be added to the growing list of social media posts to ignore immediately and avoid sharing with other people.
[Image Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images]