Originally Posted by tnpatterson

Just to add a data point -- I purchased a VR from an SBA-area CVS about four hours ago with no problems. Loaded $500 and bought a six pack of Firestone DBA. Cashier didn't ask for my ID (I'm 22) or to see the last four of my CC.

Originally Posted by yOyOYoo

Wow. Did the cards look legit?

So what happened, you tried to load your BB and it told you the card was invalid?

Originally Posted by The Mileage Millionaire

That would not be good, as it could make them think I've done something wrong.

I bought my VRs at CVS at 680 Ponce de Leon Ave; Atlanta GA 30306

Of those who PM'd me with the same problem:
1 report of CVS at 680 Ponce de Leon Ave; Atlanta GA 30306
1 report of CVS "Downtown Decatur on Ponce"
1 report of CVS "Smyrna"
1 report with no location provided

Originally Posted by amolkold

can someone post a screenshot of a used VR with a legitimate serial number? I am going to try to see if there are any patterns on fraudulent ones that can be checked before buying.

Originally Posted by AscorbylPalmitate

the serials on all of my used VRs have 10 digits

Originally Posted by AllanAtlanta

I'm in Atlanta and have no problems in Alpharetta, Perimeter or Gwinnett. Can you share some pics of the bogus cards?

Originally Posted by amolkold

Yeah they looked like any other of the 100+ VR cards I've bought, just while I was in a different state. We scratched them 5 minutes later and they only had 6 digits for the PIN, I immediately called InComm. I knew ATL had fraud activity but didn't think this store would have them.

Avoid the CVS on Peachtree. So avoid all CVSes in Atlanta.

I don't have one on me -- can someone post a screenshot of a used VR with a legitimate serial number? I am going to try to see if there are any patterns on fraudulent ones that can be checked before buying.

Originally Posted by brownie20

under the barcode my VRs have 30 digits. underneath those numbers on the right i see 10 digits.

Originally Posted by dangriffin

Just got shut down first time at regular CVS with regular cashier in Chicago before even broke into my wallet. I will try another area CVS but I am expecting this is the beginning of the end.

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

The scam as I have come to understand it:
Apparently, real actual scams exist where people who want miles and points like us could buy VRs that had been tampered with but we dont know it and neither does the store. We buy, we leave and we think we have $500 sitting on the VR til we enter the numbers on our computers later on. BUT, the way it seemingly works is that someone could have taken them home before, scratched off to get the pin, recoated the pin area with the silver and the words and then bring them all back to the store and put them on the racks. Then, when you buy it, they have a script that is running to enter the numbers over and over and once it's been bought by you, they could extract the funds to their own PP card before you have a chance to go home and do it yourself. They bank on the theory that eventually one of the cards they tampered with will have been bought and activated. The script runs all the time so it could work.

I do not know the validity of this but I also cannot see why anyone here would ever NOT offload their VRs right away anyway. Not sure why at all. I tend to offload mine the moment I can. Why? Because you need to treat this like a business. In and out. NEXT. And why have loose ends or things that could change or go belly up on you or lock up funds you need to float?

Ive even offloaded from my iphone. Why not!

CVS corporate standards?
Also there was a little scare about CVS not doing this any more. I am not sure about the validity of that either but I can attest to the fact that some stores think that what they do or say IS the gospel. Some tell you it's corp policy that they do X or Y. Then others have different rules. How can that be? Not sure, but all of the stores I go to in my area have been fine this week, with no problems and all are fully stocked. In fact I am CONVINCED I am probably one of the only if not THE only person doing this with a CC with a 25 mile radius of my house. I now tend to go to stores only where clerks are nice and not dramatic about it. Even if I visit there a lot I dont get crap from them or comments. In and out. Hi bye thank you. NEXT! If I run into a store or a manager who has issues, I now just leave and do not go back. They obviously stink and do not want business. So be it.

My thoughts:
I think to some degree some higher level gives license to each store as to how they handle certain things and so yeah, the ones that give me issue, have their own issues. And those simply do not get my business. I think CVS competes with itself in some healthy corporate way --much like the two Russian Generals who raced to get into Berlin first. It made one of them win the prize. I think CVS is set up with a similar mindset and what this does from the customer standpoint is to make some store easier to deal with than others. I dont pretend to know exactly how it works, but that's just my current feeling. It helps explain why SO MANY stores seem to have their OWN version on what corporate policy is.

mm