This is why our credit card companies are screwed up!

[Drake3287]

This is hard to believe but true. Yesterday I'm standing in line at the customer service counter at the Safeway grocery store where I live and this kid (20 or so) is buying $10,000 worth of $500. Visa gift cards using a pocket full of various credit cards he has. I stood there in disbelief as the store clerk just rang up the sale and the computer system excepted the credit cards as payment.

After the guy walks away I told the checker that you realize your store just got ripped off for $10,000 don't you? All she could say was we're not allowed to ask questions! Just how stupid can our system be?

[Petunia 100]

I'm not following. How did the store get ripped off?

[UnknownXV]

I'm guessing those were stolen credit cards, or taken under someone else's name. Something to that effect, where the charges will likely be withdrawn in time.

It's not new. People are scrumbags, always have been, always will be.

[rennigade]

Thats awesome. Sounds like they know the system and how to get around it. They're really screwing everyone if you think about it. The credit card company will eat that loss with their insurance company. They'll jack up interest rates to consumers who are too dumb to pay off their credit card bill in full each month. This will make it harder for people to get out of credit card debt leading to bankruptcy and possibly welfare...which taxpayers will fund. Eventually that fine young citizen will be tossed in the living prison machine that requires more and more inmates and more and more tax dollars to feed this beast.

Really if you think about it...this future inmate is stimulating the economy. Congrats to them.

[frugalredhead]

Most places I've ever been don't let you pay for a VISA gift card with a credit card - I'm surpised it accepted a credit card as payment!

[ua_guy]

The question is, how do you know it's NOT legitimate? The cards could have belonged to the guy, so from a fraud perspective, there's nothing wrong. He's charging his own accounts, if that was the case.

If I had to guess, though, he's not planning to repay his creditors now that he's extracted his credit in the form of cash like that.

If the cards were stolen, the store may be on the hook for the charges. As part of the merchant agreement, I believe they are supposed to verify ID and the card signature when a cardholder presents a card, no less multiple cards. If Visa or whoever challenged the store, they'd probably want to take a look at video footage, and they'd see a clerk not doing his/her job, and Visa would charge that straight back to Safeway corp.

[disneysteve]

I'm not following. How did the store get ripped off?

I'm guessing those were stolen credit cards

Maybe, maybe not. Certainly sounds fishy though. Why would someone with all of those credit cards need to buy a bunch of prepaid Visa cards? I can see buying one for a gift but that doesn't explain buying $10,000 worth.

The clerk should, at the very least, made sure the names on all of the cards matched. If not, he could have asked for ID or called over a manager to approve the transaction.

Of course, if folks lose their credit cards and don't report them, the fault is partly on them too.

[MonkeyMama]

Most places I've ever been don't let you pay for a VISA gift card with a credit card - I'm surpised it accepted a credit card as payment!

Really? We have picked them up at our grocery store before. Maybe it' s a grocery store thing.

[sblatner]

Lucky's Supermarkets don't let you buy Visa gift cards with credit cards. They let you buy store gift cards but not Visa/Amex.

I tried to buy the Visa gift cards with my rewards credit card to get the 6% bonus for the grocery store and they said no.

[disneysteve]

I tried to buy the Visa gift cards with my rewards credit card to get the 6% bonus for the grocery store and they said no.

That would be sweet, but I can see why they don't allow it. Rather than just getting 6% at their store, you would be getting 6% everywhere.

OT but you can buy discount gift cards online with a credit card (cardpool.com, giftcards.com) so not only do you get their discount (up to 25% on some cards) but you also get your regular CC rewards of 1%.

[Drake3287]

How many 20 year olds have 4 or 5 Visa cards to charge on? He would simply keep swiping his credit cards until they ran out of funds and then switch to another. At no point did the checker even ask to see the card or check ID.

Could have been legit but it certainly didn't seem like it. You would think at some point common sense would have the checker question the transaction or at least call a manager.

[bjl584]

Something doesn't seem right about that. Most stores will cut you off at a certain point. They certainly won't allow you to buy $10,000 worth of anything in one transaction. Was it really $10,000 or are you just exaggerating to make a point?

[krantcents]

I think what he was doing was maximizing his rewards on the credit cards he was using. Most cards give a bonus for supermarket purchases. The downside for the market was the fees they paid for credit card purchases.

[Petunia 100]

How many 20 year olds have 4 or 5 Visa cards to charge on? He would simply keep swiping his credit cards until they ran out of funds and then switch to another. At no point did the checker even ask to see the card or check ID.

Could have been legit but it certainly didn't seem like it. You would think at some point common sense would have the checker question the transaction or at least call a manager.

I have to show ID for anything over $25.

[disneysteve]

I have to show ID for anything over $25.

I believe that may actually be against the rules. You might want to contact your credit card company about that.