In mid-July, two women reportedly defrauded the Safford, Arizona, Walmart of $10,000 in a case that remains under investigation by the Safford Police Department. According to a police report, on July 24 a Safford officer working on an unrelated shoplifting incident was informed of the fraud, which took place July 19. Walmart loss prevention associates told the officer that two unidentified African American women had used Green Dot Visa credit cards to swindle the store out of $10,000.
The suspects allegedly gave a cashier 10 Green Dot cards, requesting that $1,000 be put on each card and explaining how to load the cards. After the money was put on the cards, the women reportedly said there was cash to pay for them in their vehicle and walked out of the store with the cards. By the time the fraud was discovered on July 20, the suspects had reportedly drained the entire $10,000 from the cards. The accounts were blocked, though no funds remained, and the store took the loss.
A Walmart manager told police that similar fraud incidents had occurred at other stores around the state. The suspects in this case were reportedly seen on store surveillance video driving a silver SUV. One was described as in her late teens or early twenties, wearing a white tank top and red shorts; the other was described as heavy set, wearing a white dress with red flowers. The case is pending further investigation. [Source: Eastern Arizona Courier]
