Walmart review: fraud 11

My husbands debit card numbers were stolen recently and used at walmart.com. We caught the transaction quickly and called before the items were shipped out. We were told we would receive a refund. A week later my husband called to get the status of the transaction only to find the items were shipped and we will not be given a refund. We were not entitled to know the items we purchased or the location of the shipment.We were victimized by having our checking account hacked into and walmart wouldn't as much as apologize for the incident. The most humorous aspect of this situation is that a company called CA Sunnyvale ARCOT systems charged my account shortly before the walmart transaction. I later was told from my bank that they are hired by Walmart to make sure that the credit card is not stolen. I paid for that service...go figure!

On Jan. 13th 2010 I received a call from my 84 year old mother at my home saying my bank had called and said my checking account had been compromised. I rushed to my bank leaving work. I was informed that the banks fraud department had a few other instances of check fraud and that the one thing the victims had in common was that they wrote checks at the Walmart in Crestwood, IL.

I told my bank that the only checks I wrote were to pay bills and to Walmart in Crestwood as well. I went home found my receipts for the checks I wrote to Walmart dating all the way to June of 09 with the last check being written there on Dec. 23, 09.

I called the Walmart and the manager James McAlpine said he had no knowledge of any fraud occurring by his employees at his store. I gave him my receipt info which told what tellers checked me out. Someone else from the store then called me back and said they were checking into it but it was circumstantial at best.

I called Crestwood police who told me they had gotten other complaints re: that particular store but that I needed to file a report with the police where I lived, which I then went and did.

I called the Crestwood store the next day, the 14th, demanding to have my bank reimbursed as well as myself for the time off work needed to straighten this whole mess out. I went back to the bank on the 14th as well, to sign affidavits and was told that an 88 year old woman on social security, just had the same thing happen to her. She wrote a check to Walmart in Crestwood as well.

I called Wallmart again on the 14th and told them I would go to the media. I immediately received a call back from the head of the southside stores, Chris at [protected]. He told me they were aware of what was going on but that the Secret Service was involved as this was a 4 state operation and if I went to the media the people involved who pack there bags and go some where else and they would not get the ones making the checks. That day I also received a call from Dave Prendergast from the Secret Sevice Chicago field office [protected] who basically told me the same thing but added that I should not be so upset as the banks were the ones who were really losing money. He also states that he was in the store on Dec 23rd and was aware of the employee performing the act. I was also told that I was the 40th victim! I was told that soon the media would be informed as to what went on at that store.

I called Walmart head branch 1800 Walmart, with my complaint as well and was told I wold here from someone in 3 to 5 business days.

I received a call from my bank on the 15th saying my account was in overdraft and could I deposit more money. I started to cry and scream about how I had no other money and that Walmart should be putting the money back as they were the ones allowing this to continue in the name of a greater good. I told my bank what I was told re: the fraud by the Secret Service as well. I called the Walmart headquarters again on the 15th and told them I needed to speak with someone now. I was told the same thing 3 to 5 business days. I called Dave at the Secret Service and complained that he needed to let the banks know what was going on. I have not heard from him since.

Since that time my accounts remain in a mess and on Friday the 23rd I called Walmart again and told them I had not received a call yet and it was over 5 business days, I was told that now my complaint would be given to the next person up and he would call me in 3 to 5 business days!

So here I wait... Walmart's slogan, Save money, Live Better should instead be: Walmart Employees will take your money so your life becomes a living HELL!

Does Walmart care...come on what do you think!

CMM

WTF. "secret service"? Don't they protect the president?

Yeah maybe he shops at Walmart!

You are being given the run-around. The Secret Service does not investigate actions like this - that is the territory of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). You need to go to the Police Department where you filed your report and get a copy of it. If possible, get the name of the officer that told you there have been multiple reports of this incident. Take that copy of your report and go directly to the District Attorney's office that covers the location of that particular Wal-Mart. Speak to them about the situation and inform them that you have been told there are other incidences besides yours and, if you managed to get it, the name of the officer that gave you this information. The District Attorney's office will be able to tell you what to do from there and may well proceed with an investigation of their own. Good luck!

Merchants almost always get screwed with payment card fraud anyway since the rules are written by the card issuers, so going to Walmart is barking up the wrong tree since no sane merchant would initiate the chargeback process. You need to have your bank reverse the charges. You might need to sign an affidavit saying you did not make the purchase, but federal law limits cardholders to $0 of liability for card not present transactions which is the case for all e-commerce situations. I used to work for a fraud prevention program, so I know how the system works. If the front line workers at the bank give you a hard time demand to speak to a manager, but any competently run bank shouldn't fight back too much.

On August 4th 2009 my mother in law sent me 2, 000 Euro from Spain, using MoneyGram services. In the same day two persons picked up this money in North Carolina (I live in Chicago!), using a fake driver license and all the secret informations needed for this transaction. One of them- that is what the police found- was "an employee at the business" who had access to the MoneyGram system. Location: Walmart Store#***9.
I consider Walmart responsible for this, because one of those suspects was an Walmart employee.
Lets' see how long it will take them to convince me they are innocent.

Actually the secret service was created in 1865 specifically to suppress counterfeit money. Protecting the president nowadays maybe what they are most known for but that is a very small part of what they do. They mostly deal with issues regarding currency(i.e. money laundering, check fraud, printing counterfeit currency). The FBI does as well... it is just an example of overlapping govt bureaucracies.

On more then one occasion when i was checking my email i would get a sudden notice informing me that i am a lucky winner of a $1000.00 walmart card. All i had to do was to take a 5 minute survey and upon completion i would just have to verify my mailing address as to facilitate the delivery of my free walmart card. What happens however is they run you through a battery of different products that you have to purchase by giving up your credit card number. They try to make you believe that you don't have to purchase anything however you don't get any walmart card without a purchase. Even with a purchase i don't believe a walmart card is ever delivered. After closing the site i received a phone call from the company in question, it was by the way a computer generated call giving me a number to call for a free $ 40.00 visa gift card for my trouble of doing the survey. I called the number out of curiosity only to be asked more qualifying questions. No longer was i an automatic winner of a $40.00 visa gift card but only a possible winner.Obviously this secondary company using walmarts name intends to sell products to you and never intends on giving anything in return. Walmart is just as responsible for this fraud as the company that contacted me and i am not done here.

I have loved to do my shopping at Walmart here in Florida. There has been several problems with employees some nice, and some rude. I have continued shopping there. But today is the last straw. I had to ask 4 employees where, i can find an item, some would point in the direction where i can find it. another said in the stationary department. That item was not located in the stationary department. I saw another employee and walked as i was trying to get his attention.by speaking. The casher's are bagging incorrectly. No more of this ludicrious chain of stores. I hate the rudeness towards the customers. We are paying their salary.

Two consecutive Saturdays, my identity was stolen by criminals who fraudulently opened up instant credit with Walmart on line. I spent HOURS trying to fix this last week, and filed with the credit b's for identity theft to have me notified by cell if ANY new credit activity. WALMART ignored this and gave another creep instant credit with MY info. There is almost no way to contact a live person on the week-ends or after hours and crooks know this.

We need INSTANT humans for trouble not just INSTANT credit to benefit the stores.