Home Depot Electronic Receipt Fraud
07/10/2015
Home Depot Electronic Receipt Fraud
NC3TF Detectives worked with Home Depot Loss Prevention after a suspect who had been arrested out-of- state told authorities of a scam being perpetrated through the home Depot Pro Rewards app. The scam consisted of opening a Pro rewards account, and then by deciphering the point of sale electronic receipt numbering logic, the suspects can attach sales made by other Pro Rewards customers along with their electronic receipts to the suspects Pro Rewards account. The suspects then steal the corresponding merchandise and return it for cash using the electronic receipts.
Home Depot Investigations reviewed their records looking for return transactions that fit this profile and identified potential suspects using this method. Three Solano County individuals were identified as possible suspects. The three were using 5 pro rewards accounts and between November 2013 and April 2015 the suspects had accessed 9,929 eReceipts and then used 685 of those receipts to return $46,520.00 in stolen merchandise
The NC3TF Detective was able to identify the suspects (2 men and 1 woman) and found that the 2 men were on probation. Detectives conducted Probation searches on 2 of the suspects’ residences and seized their cell phones and computers.
Working with the Technology group from Home Depot that developed the app Detectives learned how the suspects accessed the eReceipts. Through follow up on the email accounts linked to the suspect’s 5 Pro Reward accounts detectives found additional evidence linking them to the crimes.
During the investigation one of the 3 suspects was arrested at the Home Depot store in Vacaville. The NC3TF Detective responded to the store and interviewed him. The suspect confessed to the crimes and explained how the scam worked and implicated the other 2 suspects.
The case has been filed in Solano County.