Issues buying GC at OD
 

I went to OD and bought 2 Vanilla gift cards. The cashier made a copy of the receipt and of my driver’s liscence. It had happened before at this particular store, but thought it was for internal purposes since the cashier did not seem to know why they had to do this.
However, today I had another cashier and asked again why. He told me that they had to report any large amount of gift card purchases to the FBI. Then, the FBI calls them and he gives out the info he has on me. He said the FBI was concern about money laundering. I actually saw the cashier handing out the receipt to the manager, who then began entering info on his computer.
Anyone with a similar experiences? Am I potentially in trouble?This is obviously not he first time I bought gift cards at OD :)
I don’t think I am doing anything wrong, but I obviously don’t like the idea of being reported to the FBI.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go there again. Not sure what legal grounds the Fibbies would have to obtain this information w/o a court order. Not to mention the possibility that somebody is running a scam by impersonating .gov officials.

Andyandy

They're lying. It's to cover their losses if someone is committing credit card fraud. The FBI doesn't care about a cpl gift cards nor would they need to make a copy of the receipt - all of that is stored electronically by the store itself.

I'd go back, buy the cards, and when they ask to make a copy, tell them to pound sand.

And if they say they need to see your DL because you paid by Credit Card, tell them no. If your CC is signed & your signature matches, per their Merchant Agreement with Visa & M/C that is all that is necessary.

The cashier was very apologetic about having to do this. He seemed to have firsthand experience about getting those calls... So I did not get the sense he was lying.

Anyway, I obviously do not plan on going back to this store. I actually have a choice of OD where I live. So, screw them!

Bank teller's do the same thing, they talk about your deposits...and yes it can cause an audit.

Buy something besides a GC, need batteries...
Tell them what you are doing, not a big deal.

Had the same thing happen to me at OD when buying 4 GCs there last night. Cashier called the manager, manager said I need your ID and to make a phone call. I doubt it's anything nefarious - probably just to check your name against a database linked to fraud. Would I prefer they not do it? Yes. But I won't quit buying if they don't.

Also, it doesn't matter what the Merchant Agreement with Visa or Amex says about what's necessary for credit verification. OD can institute an anti-fraud measure and enforce it by refusing to sell to anyone who does not follow protocol.

My strategy has been to purchase one Vanilla card at a time. The store is along the route home from work so I stop in, buy one $500 card, move on. Sometimes I purchase something I need with it. I try to keep under the radar. Slow and steady wins the race.

If you are dropping big bucks on a bunch of gift cards at one time this might make the manager nervous about a large charge back or credit card fraud. Also it might make a tempting target to someone needing some free Christmas gifts.

exactly! buy smaller amounts and see if they change their protocol - keep it under the radar. There is absolutely no need to buy large amounts of GC's in a single visit to the store.

If they asked for all that information from me I would definitely not buy them...I don't need to be in any sort of database I already do enough things :P

Rules of evidence for law enforcement does not require them to obtain a court order if a private company WILLINGLY gives them the information. In other words, a private company can violate your constitutional rights, by violating your 4th amendment rights, but such evidence, if voluntarily given to law enforcement, does not fall under fruit of the poisonous tree.

Data point:

I (almost) always buy one VR card at a time. Sometimes I'm asked to flash my ID, which I have no problem doing - some say it may violate their merchant agreement with Visa, I couldn't care less about that - Home Depot asks to see ID when buying anything over $50 with a credit card, I don't mind showing my ID when buying cash with a credit card. No big deal.

Only once have I bought more than a single VR at a time: on the last night of OD selling VRs (I did not know OD would pull the plug 24 hours later, it just worked out that way). I bought two that night (for the full $500 each, so the total was $1000 plus 2 x $3.95, so the total was over $1000). I got a treatment similar to abernard's: manager was called over, got dirty looks from the manager, they photocopied my drivers license, manager made two phone calls (one was clearly to check that the card was valid, the other I don't know), they either looked up or recorded something about me in an online system from one of their terminals). It took about 5-10 minutes.

At the same OD, I bought one VR the following day, and had no hassles, no questions, all was smooth, the transaction took 30 seconds.

It may be that buying multiple cards, or buying cards totaling over $1000, may have triggered the extra scrutiny. Or maybe it was just the crabby manager that day. Or maybe it was sun spots. Who knows. I do know that I've never been hassled like that when I've only been buying one at a time.

Buying the whole rack seems to be just asking for extra scrutiny, and I see no reason to ask for all the consequences that going all-in can easily bring. Hogs get slaughtered, etc.

+1

This probably has to do with the money laundering rules and the "know your customer" regulations. If it were a cash transaction, it would have to be recorded if it met or appeared as though it could meet the daily limit.

I realize you're using a credit card to buy the gift cards, but back when the "use AMEX card to buy AMEX Travelers checks" churn was going strong, folks ran into this regularly, see, e.g., this post.

The problem when they do a phone verification is that it places your funds as pending twice. For example, once I bought $1000 of VR, OD phones in, they get a $1000 preauthroization charge, and the actual charge goes through, for $2000 in pending charges. A week or so later, the preauthorization charge goes away.

Have -never- had this happen, and I've bought a significant amount of product at OD.

Local Thiefs are smart also,
They go in an buy a $500.00 GC, throw the stolen CC away and off to the races...
Hard to trace....
OD is watching out for them not FF.

Umm wow this is totally not worth it. Buying Vanilla Gift Cards just so you could get 5 miles per dollar spent AND a FBI report on you? I think I'll past on this from now on.

There is if your closest OD is 45 miles r/t.
And frankly, I am not doing anything wrong, could care less whether they report me to anyone.

Only 45 miles r/t? My closest is over 100 mes r/t. I tend to buy multiple cards when I am in the area.

My Office Depot has said for past three weeks that there is a problem syncing the sales of GC's. No other OD's are having this problem. So they were not selling any Visa or Amex gift sales. Well today I spoke to the manager in passing and he said they were scared to sell them to inky customers. He then asked me how many GC's I wanted. So he went to he back and made a call and let me buy 2 $500 ones. He said that this is coming to an end he was told.

i'd NEVER EVER make them copy your ID and CC, if they insist, don't purchase anything there.

You can never trust these store employees about your credit card information. they can sell it online, others in the store can see it , they may lose track of your card copy.

Just be careful

The police/FBI/etc are free to make a request for information to anyone or any entity. Most big companies just simply comply.

Most companies' written privacy policies state that they may share information with governmental entities upon those entities' request.

If you were to get a call from the FBI, you'd have nothing to fear. No crime is being committed.

The FBI isn't going to waste their time over someone buying gift cards with a credit card attached to their name.

exactly

Has anyone else experienced this at an OD? Just curious if anyone was able to buy gift cards with a CC at Staples or any other office supply chains.

I believe this was the only (or a few) reported problem with buying GC with CC at OD, most people do not have problem with this.

The Fibbies have no idea why you are buying them - just that you are. GCs are an obvious source for potential laundering. Being a FF could simply be a convenient cover (and nice perk) for some less than legit people.

The people I'd be worried about are the ones who actually use cash. Who carries around $500 and wants to buy multiple gift cards?

That said, if any are out there who want a steady supply of gift cards from OD, my lips are sealed...:rolleyes:

It is hit-and-run Inkers bringing attention in some pockets more than local thieves in my opinion.

I was at 2 different OD's yesterday, and I was able to buy GC's for <$500 at each place without any issues whatsoever - 1st OD didn't even ask for ID, 2nd OD asked for a quick ID verification.

No problems at my local OD today w 2x500. Didn't even ask for ID w an unsigned cc :rolleyes:

Same here for no problems yesterday at OD. Bought $500 AmEx GC and $100 Visa GC (an actual gift :rolleyes:) Quick check of I.d. Clerk/manager seemed apologetic for having to ask.

I asked about VR and if they"ll be back. Was told no and then was shown a black vanilla reload that was the replacement. Is there a chance this will eventually be load able to the BB?

I passed Staples and an Office Max on the way to this store because I'm familiar with it. Are those stores just as good for GC purchases with Ink?

Staples and OfficeMax have been less interesting because they're not carrying the high-denomination options. Maximum $200 at the other stores, which makes the only slightly cheaper purchase fee a noticeably higher percentage.

100% False. Especially if OP is buying from a store where they're already monitoring. Who knows what other actual illegal activity is being run through this store as the reason for the extra precautions? I agree with the others; buy low, stay under the radar, or find somewhere else.

Was this black card the my vanilla debit card?

The debit card is useless if you can't find VR cards - but it could be a reasonable sub for the BB if all you want to do is buy MOs at WM/USPS

Went to another local OD and had no problem buying 1 Visa gift card (from now on I'll just buy 1-2 every few days for conversions instead of 3-4 once per week as it's lower profile).

Thank you for the refresher. I knew there was a reason but the details slipped my mind.

Yes. I had to google it to see a picture before I could answer your question. While I was at the My Vanilla website I looked over the details. Can't see why OD would say this card "replaces" the VR since it takes a VR to load it. To me, this card looks like the Visa fraternal twin of the BB. It has most of the BB features. The only one I didn't see was making payments by check.

Am I understanding it correctly?

Od
 

+1

I have purchased thousands at a time at over 6+ office depots and never a photocopy of anything. That is ridiculous

I think you're right in noting that the VR is what you use to reload these. It seems the presence of the debit cards without reloads is of limited use.

Thanks.