Scams and fraud
Most retail fraud reaches the store through the register: a customer coached by a scammer into buying gift cards, a refund that never had a sale behind it, a return of stolen goods. This hub collects the articles on the red flags a cashier can see, the one open question that pauses a sale, who decides whether to refuse it, and the state notice laws that now apply to gift card displays.
Key questions in scams and fraud
Articles
- Gift Card Scam Register Training: What Should Cashiers Do?
Gift card scam register awareness training: read the sale, ask one open question, point to the scam notice, and let a manager decide. Never accuse.
Laws and regulations
- Maryland Gift Card Scams Prevention Act: what SB 760 requires
Maryland SB 760 requires merchants to train employees who regularly sell gift cards on how to identify and respond to gift card fraud. - New Jersey gift card scam notice law: what S3587 requires
New Jersey S3587 requires a state gift card scam notice displayed at or near the physical location where gift cards are displayed for sale.
Research digests
- FTC Consumer Sentinel Data Book 2024: what it found on fraud losses
FTC Consumer Sentinel data for 2024 show more than $12.5 billion in reported fraud losses, a 25% increase, with $212M lost via gift cards. - FTC gift card data spotlight 2021: what it found about scam scripts
The FTC's 2021 gift card spotlight found scammers coach victims on what to say to cashiers, keep them on the phone, and send them to several stores. - FTC Protecting Older Consumers report 2025: what it found
FTC report: people 60 and over reported nearly $2.4 billion in fraud losses, with gift cards among the payment methods most often reported.
Tools
- Gift card scam register script and signage checklist
Three register lines for a suspicious gift card sale, the signal table, and a signage and log checklist. Post it inside the lane before the next shift.
Glossary
- Gift card scam
A gift card scam is a fraud in which a scammer, usually by phone, convinces a victim to buy gift cards and read the card numbers back. The store's register becomes the payout point, and the cashier is often the only person positioned to interrupt it. - Imposter scam
An imposter scam is a fraud in which someone pretends to be a trusted party, such as a government agency, a utility, tech support, a relative, or the retailer's own corporate office, to extract payment or information. In a store it reaches both customers and staff. - Refund fraud
Refund fraud is obtaining a refund or store credit the store never owed. Customers return stolen or used goods, present fake or altered receipts, or claim items never arrived. Employees process refunds with no sale behind them to a card they control.