Woolworths grocery store clients have been urged to be cautious of a classy new barcode sticker rip-off.
Talking to 7NEWS.com.aua Queensland man has revealed how his girlfriend was swindled out of $200 after buying a Woolworths reward card that had been tampered with.
The rip-off sees criminals place a fraudulent barcode sticker over the unique barcode which is positioned on the again of reward playing cards.
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The alternative barcode stickers correspond to a card already within the scammer’s possession – and when the compromised card has funds added to it by an unsuspecting shopper, it goes on to the scammer’s card that’s linked to a brand new barcode sticker.
It is believed that is the primary Woolworths grocery store rip-off of its variety in Queensland, prompting a brand new warning to customers.
The person stated his girlfriend solely seen the suspicious barcode sticker whereas investigating why the reward card had no funds on it.
“She bought a Want Present Card from Woolworths at Woolongabba, Brisbane, and put $200 on the cardboard,” he defined.
“When she later tried to entry the funds, the steadiness was displaying as $0.00. Upon additional investigation of the reward card, a printed barcode was found over the unique barcode.
“After performing some analysis, it seems it is a rip-off … seen in Canberra and plenty of different international locations.”
She stated Woolworths workers initially advised them to attend 48 hours to see if the $200 reappeared on the cardboard.
Nonetheless after chatting with the shop’s supervisor, their case was escalated and is now being investigated by the police.
“We spoke with the customer support supervisor they usually refunded the cash,” he advised 7NEWS.com.au.
“What had occurred was somebody had planted that individual card within the retailer, as that individual inexperienced Want card just isn’t one which they preserve in inventory.
“They contacted the police and an investigation is underway. They will overview the CCTV previous to the 18th February, which was when the cardboard was bought, to see if they’ll discover out who put the cardboard there.
“The customer support supervisor additionally advised us that the cops haven’t seen circumstances of this specific barcode rip-off in Queensland earlier than.
“She additionally advised us that they audited their reward playing cards and couldn’t discover any extra tampered playing cards.”
Woolworths responds
A Woolworths spokesperson has inspired consumers to be looking out for tampered reward playing cards.
“Our retailer groups have been skilled to assist clients who might have been impacted by reward card associated scams,” the spokesperson advised 7NEWS.com.au.
“We encourage our clients to examine the again of the barcode when buying any reward playing cards to make sure it hasn’t been tampered with and if there are any issues, to boost it instantly with a group member.”
Shopper warning
The consumer’s boyfriend stated he was involved that different Woolworths consumers might fall for the rip-off, and has urged customers to examine their reward playing cards for suspicious barcode stickers.
“What makes this much more regarding is that there’s completely no point out of this specific rip-off on the Woolworths Rip-off Alert web page,” he stated.
“Extra clients are susceptible to being scammed by their shops. It seems that there’s completely no safety in place for the sort of rip-off and we the customers are those who’re left to make sure our reward card purchases haven’t been tampered with by scammers.
“Anybody is able to committing this rip-off during the availability chain, it may have been achieved by a workers member for all we all know.
“What sort of coaching do workers have with reference to tampered reward playing cards? What are Woolworths doing to make sure they aren’t facilitating fraud?
“Why are reward playing cards allowed to take a seat out within the open the place anybody may doubtlessly commit this crime? These questions must be answered.”
7NEWS.com.au understands that Woolworths has had a really small variety of circumstances of reward card fraud reported to them previously six months.
Customers are urged to remain updated on the most recent scams circulating in Australia through the ACCC’s Scamwatch web page.
In the event you imagine you’re the sufferer of a rip-off, report the incident here.
