? Short sighted thought process. CVS is just the latest in a series of shoes to drop. Wait until grocery stores pull vgcs and/or raise fees like OD. Or go to cash only. Or WM stops accepting debits for MO.

2013 will likely be viewed as a Golden Year for MSers. Methinks the noose will keep tightening and you need to earn while you can. Read a few blogs and see the devil-may-care attitude of the pimps exposing every technique in the name of conversions. And having month-long MS competitions. Heaven help us from such stupidity.

Those who say to stop MSing if you have more than a modest amount of points have their heads up their back sides - they blithely presume the game will remain as easy as it has been. OD/CVS show that's patent nonsense.

This CVS bombshell will hopefully be a much needed wake up call for the morons who can't keep their mouths shut - all because that greed for affiliate income overwhelms common sense. But I wont be holding my breath. Instead you can bet your bottom dollar all the pimps will have series of posts about "What to do now that CVS is dead". And they'll continue along with their scorched earth policy so long as the affiliate income game is so lucrative.

The way to fight back is to not visit the pimps - and to NEVER, EVER use an affiliate link for a CC sign up.

Someone made a great point on Fatwallet - that once CVS (low hanging fruit) has dried up, some of the other cash cows that people like PaulMSN and others using will be the only game in town, which means circles and arrows and up next on the extinction block.

Chicken Little thinking. You can't predict the future. The rest of your post is silly little prejudices.

Holy cow, in a world where Photoshop is easy, the internet spreads wild rumors, information about all of us is easily accessible online (have you done a Google search with your name recently?), April Fool's day is coming, and almost all of the confirmatory evidence is from folks with nothing for experience at FT, it's amazing how many folks are buying into this.

Really, you think some freaking customer got an internal CVS memo handed to him across the counter with proprietary information about CVS employees and inventory control numbers and email addresses and telephone numbers? Really? I'd fire everyone responsible for letting that information out. And from a company that most folks in this thread have screamed that their employees overapply company policy? Geez, do you think that company policy might be not to hand out secret information about coming changes in the company policy? And do you think it's possible that an internet prankster could get information about Cary Chaney simply by doing a basic internet search?

I bought VRs tonight after 8 p.m. at my local store. CVS is really good about posting information at their gift card racks about what can and can't be bought by credit cards--although I'll agree that sometimes front-line people don't always know what CVS's policies mean. So, don't you think it's possible that CVS might have put up a sticker at the gift card rack that would notify customers of a possible coming change to policy? Don't you think it's possible that with April 1 right around the corner, that some CVS employees are playing a prank on some of the gullible basement dwellers we have around here who'll freaking believe almost anything so long as they can have their every six month ride in business class so that they believe they're something more than they really are?

And, don't you think it's possible that there are some folks posting in this thread who can't wait until Tuesday to go: "April Fool's"?

If there is any thread on FT that shows just how illogical the internet might be, the last twelve hours in this thread is it. I'm not sure who I pity more: the folks who might be buying a load of crap from internet pranksters and CVS employees who are selling them a load of BS or the folks posting in this thread who can't wait until 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday to scream, "April Fool's!"

Given that CVS has generally expanded the ability to buy VRs while putting reasonable practices in place to reduce fraud, I'd think that there'd be a more gradual rollup to such a significant change. Given the ridiculous nonsense I've seen from some posters in this thread, I'd rather sit in the worst seat in the back than sit next to some of these fools in first class.

They already have posted these very articles. They just don't care, because they are all about themselves. And the MS contests are just stupidity on top of stupidity. I mean seriously what is the point of such a public contest other than to draw unnecessary heat.

The rest if the people on the plane could careless less, and even FA have never heard if FT.

This is a very small game..,

Seriously?

I've personally seen that notice in another store in a different state, and confirmed a notice went out to a similar effect to at least two other stores as well.

Feel free to take a coach seat, but you're the naive one if you think it's CVS Corporate (or a bunch of rogue CVS employees across numerous states) playing an April Fool's joke to get back at us "business class folk."

Whether or not its true, only time will tell what happens on 3/31 and 4/1. We can't assume that this is an April Fool's joke and I would rather go on the side of caution that tomorrow could be the last day to buy VRs with CCs. I hope the rumor is entirely wrong because I would rather be able to continue to buy VRs with CC but we don't know. People won't be mad even if it ended up being a joke because its the reaction would be more of a sigh of relief than anger.

Keep in mind that CVS has expanded its $5K policy since Aug 2013 so its not like it just started allowing $5K/day in Feb 2014. That would totally be a slap in the face if it was that case. However since Aug 2013 its been 7 months of this policy so that I think it can be plausible. I just think its foolish to assume its an April Fools joke because corporate America doesn't do April Fools joke. Besides April 1st is the first day of Q2. But at the end of the day its really up to each individual if they want to stock up on VRs or gamble on 3/31. Either way its best to start coming up with alternatives.

I know all of this is sort of pointless at this time, but "sosamo", you were absolutely right. I asked the cashier to use the scanner to scan the barcode and it worked just fine! I was able to purchase $5K. Given that today is the penultimate day of the CVS cash only policy, managed to do a $10K VR run...

Good luck tracking down and enforcing a mass firing when you send out corporate wide emails that need to be shared with staff.

Enjoy losing your entire retail force and getting fired yourself.

Frankly, i'm surprised that homeland security, with all of the other intrusions on freedom and our lives, has not stopped the way the retailers and pre-paid industry are significant enablers to criminals by allowing anybody to buy unlimited amounts of these products WITH CASH and no ID. The reality is that the criminals, drug dealers, money launderers, etc are NOT using credit cards- they're using CASH. With our paper trail, we do the opposite of money laundering. If Breaking Bad had gone another season, fair chance Walt would have been burying VGC's and reload cards in the desert instead of cash, with Jessie's tweaker friends doing cvs runs instead of cold pills!

Allowing this money laundering using cash is ridiculous. You can go store to store and buy several $100,000 a day with cash. You will never even be asked for an ID. frankly, the retailers should be required to only take credit cards! seriously. too easy to acquire debit cards. But credit cards in your own name are going to have a SS#, address, credit report- everything. Even an AU has to give SS# now, and the link to the primary, who pays the bill, makes that a non starter for criminals.

Yes, I know the target for the product is the poor/unbanked. But that shouldn't be the free pass for the laundering being done with these products.

We should start a PAC to force all prepaid products to be credit card only to protect our security, our children and, of course, or MS.

i am uncommonsensical, and i approve this message.

This coming from someone who resents others learning what he knows. I guess you guys don't do much self-reflection.

Umm I don't resent others learning what I know. I resent certain bloggers blaring the information all over the internet, because they want to make a profit off their affiliate links and this is how they convince people to meet their min spend and apply for a bunch of cards they may or may not need. I try to help people when I can and I don't do so for profit.

April Fool. FOOLS

It's been suggested a couple of times that it's foolish to think CVS would be doing this as an April Fools joke. I don't think anyone is saying that CVS is behind the joke. The people responsible could be MSers, could be on another forum, and could be targeting FT. There is a level of disdain that exists for such an open exchange of this information.

On the other hand, this move would loosely coincide with the big jump over to Serve and everyone do register loads. Perhaps this bridged the information gap that was protecting us from Amex realizing the extent of "abuse" going on with their prepaid cards. VR might have acted as a buffer. Besides they have been hating on the game lately, what with removing themselves from BP services and limiting card bonuses to once a lifetime?! Do they wield the power to change CVS policy like this.. Chase did at OD right?

Boy the wheels are spinning