A viral Facebook post claims that shoppers at Walmart have been subjected to a cash-back scam, saying that cashiers steal money from customers.
According to About.com, the hoax has been around since 2004 and it has different permutations.
“I bought a bunch of stuff, over $150, & I glanced at my receipt as the cashier was handing me the bags. I saw a cash-back of $40. I told her I didn’t request a cash back & to delete it. She said I’d have to take the $40 because she couldn’t delete it. I told her to call a supervisor,” reads one of the posts.
Other variants claim that the cashier takes the money or hands it to a person waiting in line. Others say that the cashier gives the money to the customer but it is unwanted since it is an advance from a credit card.
The rumor--some with the same text--is shown taking place in different cities and towns, including Houston or Milford.
The warning also claims it happened “a month ago” but as Buzzfeed.com points out, it has been spread on the Internet since at least 2004. The website says that it was originally spread via chain e-mails but has been transferred to Facebook and Twitter in recent years.
There are also no news reports on the subject matter for the past few decades.
Hoax-busting website Snopes.com says that the scam doesn’t make sense because cash back requests need to be done with customers’ knowledge.
“It is possible (and sometimes occurs) that a cashier can actually reach over and manipulate the customer keypad herself to initiate a cash back request unbeknownst to the customer, but this requires that the customer’s attention be completely diverted elsewhere, and it can’t be done surreptitiously — the action takes place in full view of other employees, customer, and security cameras (and hence such perpetrators are easily caught),” the website reads.
However, customers can accidentally ask for cash back by errantly pressing the wrong buttons on the key pad. Also, there are reports that customers ask for cash back but forget they requested it later.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling elaborated to Buzzfeed: “Our cashiers have no method of initiating cash back from their register terminal. The customer is the only one who can prompt the cashier to give cash back.”
The crime could possibly take place at cashier stands where the clerk asks for the customer’s card and enters the cash-back request manually, but such occurrances are rare.
