Two women believe their identity was stolen at Wal-Mart
Gilroy – It was supposed to be a supersaver, not a super hassle.
When Natasha Weinz went to cash checks at her bank Dec. 3 she was told her account was overdrawn. She was shown a list of recent account activity and several transactions at Wal-Mart Supercenter stood out. Both purchases occurred Nov. 29 at 10:50pm and 11:01pm, one for $86.97 another for $383.40.
But Weinz could not remember purchasing anything from Wal-Mart for at least two months.
“I don’t remember using my checkcard at this new store,” she said.
It appears someone went holiday shopping with her Wells Fargo checkcard: Three junior fashion watches, three sweaters, four gift sets, gift bags and tape, as well as toiletry items including Pampers diapers, Huggies Wipes, and baby bottles were charged to her account.
Weinz filed a police report and was credited by her bank for the charges.
“It’s just wrong,” the 20-year-old Gavilan College student said. “You are more cautious now – you don’t know how they did it. It seems like it would have to be an employee. I mean I have my checkcard – it’s in my wallet.”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Weinz has heard about this occurring at the superstore. A family friend, Diana Hicks, called her parents when the store first opened to report a similar problem.
In early November Hicks had been out shopping for work materials and used her ATM credit card at Wal-Mart. When she realized she had forgotten to pick up some items, she returned to Wal-Mart where she tried to pay with her card but the charge wouldn’t go through because someone was using her card at the same time at nearby Fashion Bug.
“I couldn’t be two places at once,” she explained.
Hicks received a phone call from her bank citing a lot of charges being racked up on her at the time, she said.
“I went to my bank and they said this has been happening a lot.”
She had to cancel her account and credit card.
“I didn’t really think about filing a police report. I probably should have. I called the store manager that night,” she said. “His concern was, ‘Are you going to continue shopping here?’ not about my situation.”
Police said it is important to be extra vigilant this time of year.
Hicks believes her card number was swiped earlier that morning at the store. She hadn’t used the card in more than a month, and she noted that a female worker who came up to her while she was checking out. At the time she felt she was standing too close for comfort, she said.
“I definitely think there’s a problem there. I don’t think it’s being addressed properly,” Hicks said.
When the Wal-Mart Superstore opened this fall, 450 new workers were hired to join the 200 employees from the former store.
Hicks has experience working in human resources and questions how thorough the background checks actually were on the new employees.
“The dynamics have changed,” she said. “The store has become so large you just don’t know where they come from anymore.”
But Wal-Mart store manager Ken Higgins says they have not had any problems with employee theft, and have not fired any employees for this reason.
“I had a complaint here awhile back, right when we first opened,” he said. “She never called me back.”
Higgins believes it would be difficult for an employee to steal credit card information.
“There’s no pin numbers or full credit card numbers on any of the receipts,” he said.
Cashiers cannot see when debit information is entered either because the screens face the customer not the employee, he added.
“We take care of our customers,” he said, inviting anyone with complaints to call him so the issue can be resolved. “People watch their money and that’s what they should be doing.”
