thehustla

Fake ID? Fake CC with a victims real CC info? Thief trying to drain CC by buying multiple VGCs?

nkp46

Right. That was what I was thinking. I used my own credit cards to buy gift cards, and they verify my ID and CCs. Asking SSN makes feel my info is not secure.
Some time ago, I asked the manager what is the max amount one can buy, and he said it depends, and never denied me. I usually do 1k-2.5K, only very recently I saw another person doing 5K on one CC, I was encouraged to do 5k on 2 CCs.
Another grocery store chain, it says clearly daily max of gift cards is 5k, and below 1.5K no need to record ID info; above 1.5K, they have to fill in a form with your ID info and gift cards info.

nkp46

Thank you very much! I took this a lesson and will never do this again. I will also reduce the amount I am buying. I usually do 1-2.5K most of time, and every month <15K.
That lady only works there on weekend, and I have not seen her for a long time. Last August she also warned me that she would report, and recorded my ID info (forgot if she asked for SSN or not that time). But then for a long time I did not see her. 2 weeks ago I bought 3K from her and she said nothing. probably 5K is really too much.

I use my own credit cards to buy VGCs and then load to serve, and MO, so, what legal problems could this have?

mnCO

You're looking at it from your own perspective and saying, "Well, I'm not doing anything wrong. It's my money and my card." While that may be true, look at it from outside. As others have mentioned, it's NOT NORMAL for someone to just walk into a grocery store and buy $5,000 worth of Visa Gift Cards on a credit card. I get looks when I do $300 at the grocery store.

First, the cashier and manager should be suspicious. Remember that banks are doing all they can to make retailers liable for fraudulent activity. If they ended up on the hook for $5,000, that's probably a significant portion of the daily profit for the store, given the thin margins associated with the grocery business. CC Fraud rings are very sophisticated these days...they can easily have either real CCs with fake IDs to match the names or fake CC with the real info on the strip so that the card matches the persons ID....or even both.

Second, this will likely be investigated further, either internally, or through outside law enforcement. If they discover you gave a fake SSN, that will be a huge red flag. At best, you're potentially wasting the time of law enforcement who could be using their efforts to catch people who are breaking the law. At worst, they will find you and open a criminal investigation. Even though you've done nothing illegal, I'm sure you have things you'd rather do than answer the questions of a police investigator.

You say you've been to the store before. Sounds like using the CC for VGC is not against store policy, so why not develop a relationship with at least a cashier, if not the manager. Let them know up front what you're doing and put their mind at ease. Answer any questions they might have....tell them you buy gift cards for your business...whatever you want...what they really care about is that you are who you say you are and that you're not trying to rip them off. Alternatively, you could just stick to lower amounts if you want to maintain as much anonymity as possible. Personally, whenever I charge more than $200 (esp. when buying VGC, RLIs, or loading RB) I have my card and ID already out to hand to the cashier.

Often1

Fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, human trafficking. That's just off the cuff. Remember, the question isn't whether what OP did was criminal, it's whether it was suspicious. It became criminal when he provided the false SSN.

prasha11

How can u stop 'someone'?
"someone was required to put a fake SSN and it somehow ended up being your SSN.?" (probability is less than a million) irrespective of you do not give real or give a fake one?

prasha11

Depends who you provide...

Free legal advice or opinion is worthless...

ericdabbs

It doesn't matter if the chances are low. I never said it had to be my SSN. It could have been anybody's SSN. The point is you should never provide fake information just to justify the means. Just because criminals do it for identity theft doesn't mean that you should replicate that behavior. OP could have walked away and come back later with a different cashier or simply buy a little less to not hit that threshold. You have to learn to adapt to this game or GTFO.

Sam2014

I was in the grocery store and try to buy 2k of gift cards and the CSR said I have to fill a form. The form looks like an application for a home loan, this ask all information includes the SSN. The CSR said because I exceeds the threshold limit they have to submit this form to the state auditor controller. I said thanks and left without buying any gift cards.

satman40

When in doubt get out...

Lower your buying, and come back another day.

ZzzzX

There is no reason to give anyone your SSN, date of birth and address. Call the manager, ask for the reason, walk to the next store. Tell THEM you are concerned about identity theft.

ZzzzX

Sorry, but you speculate. If there was an unfortunate error in a transcription (you don't know what the employees skills might be or how power-hungry the employee could be), it is just unfortunate. Stop trying to scare the pants off OP.

OP--let it go. Keep your receipts so you can prove purchases were legit and track your actions (just in case), but let it go.

kharlamov

How could it possibly be a criminal offense to provide an inaccurate SSN to a clerk working at a grocery store? I can understand how it could be a criminal offense to provide an inaccurate SSN to a law enforcement officer, mortgage bank or government agency, but a grocery store clerk doesn't fit into any of those categories. In addition, the OP never attested to the accuracy of the SSN recorded on the document completed by the clerk by signing such document.

Often1

Doesn't matter whether you make the false statement directly to a government agent or to someone who may report it to the government. Think about providing a false SSN to your employer who then uses that number for filings with the IRS (think W-2).

If it really concerns you, hire a lawyer who handles money laundering cases and they will tell you the answer. This is an anonymous internet forum.

nkp46

[let it go]