header of the receipt and then print out a counterfeit receipt containing that header, but with a new list of items, including a tent for $129.95. They would use distraction to steal cash register paper right out of a cash register, so they could print the fraudulent receipt on the actual paper of the chain. Finally, they’d go to a sister store in another town with the receipt and return the tent, earning $110 for their effort. When the customer service representative looked at the receipt, he’d see the tent there and the computer would satisfy itself that the header included a sufficient amount of money. The Vickers Gang would print up additional phony receipts to return as much as possible of the other items, though some of the things they kept because they needed them. In this way, they made as much as $4,000 a day during busy shopping periods. They liked tents because there was such a wide price range. They also liked golf clubs, and for a while they made a killing returning submersible water pumps to Home Depot.
BUT THERE ARE ALWAYS RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Vickers Gang operated like a well-oiled business. Santa Claus schooled his members in a list of professional rules and routines they were to faithfully obey. For instance, the Vickers Gang never did their marking down in the morning, except around Christmas when the stores are continually packed and clerks are easily distracted. Otherwise, they avoided mornings because that’s when clerks and other store employees are most alert. The Vickers Gang would do its shopping in the afternoon, after the clerks have been there for four or five hours. By then, everyone is worn out. Cashiers just want to get you out of there, because they’re ready to go out on a date or pick up their kids, and they just want the last two or three hours at the store to end.
They were told never to return something in Minneapolis with a receipt they got in Chicago. Clerks get confused with out-of-state receipts, because the chains often have different style receipts in different states. They won’t recognize them and will then call the manager. You never want the manager to get involved. Another rule was not to return something with a receipt dated thirty minutes ago to a store an hour away. Also, they were forbidden to return the same type of item twice to the same store. If you bring back pots and pans one day, don’t return pots and pans next week. You can bring in a jacket or a microwave, but not the same thing. There’s always the risk that the store will have figured out the pots and pan return after you left.
Determined to stop the Vickers Gang, Target was fastidious about incorporating fresh security features into their receipts. But when company officials go to sleep at night, criminals stay up late working on new ways to beat the system. The genius about Santa Claus and the Vickers Gang was their ability to adapt. Within days of a retail chain making alterations in its systems, they would make the appropriate changes in their operations. After all, when they began, there were no UPC codes, just ordinary price stickers. So they counterfeited the price stickers. Stores had manual cash registers. So the Vickers drove around with an NCR cash register in their trunk, and would make their counterfeit receipts on the register. When clerks looked at a receipt when he was returning something, Santa Claus would sometimes joke, “If you don’t like that receipt, I can just get another one from my trunk.” When stores moved to computers, they followed suit. At one point, Target switched to a restricted cash register ribbon that printed in two colors of ink, so that the top half of a number might be black and the bottom half red. The Vickers Gang tried unsuccessfully to buy one of the ribbons, and finally managed to steal one.
The Vickers Gang had a long and prosperous run, and some narrow escapes. Sensing she was being watched, Jodi Vickers once had to peel off a bunch of labels
BUT THERE ARE ALWAYS RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Vickers Gang operated like a well-oiled business. Santa Claus schooled his members in a list of professional rules and routines they were to faithfully obey. For instance, the Vickers Gang never did their marking down in the morning, except around Christmas when the stores are continually packed and clerks are easily distracted. Otherwise, they avoided mornings because that’s when clerks and other store employees are most alert. The Vickers Gang would do its shopping in the afternoon, after the clerks have been there for four or five hours. By then, everyone is worn out. Cashiers just want to get you out of there, because they’re ready to go out on a date or pick up their kids, and they just want the last two or three hours at the store to end.
They were told never to return something in Minneapolis with a receipt they got in Chicago. Clerks get confused with out-of-state receipts, because the chains often have different style receipts in different states. They won’t recognize them and will then call the manager. You never want the manager to get involved. Another rule was not to return something with a receipt dated thirty minutes ago to a store an hour away. Also, they were forbidden to return the same type of item twice to the same store. If you bring back pots and pans one day, don’t return pots and pans next week. You can bring in a jacket or a microwave, but not the same thing. There’s always the risk that the store will have figured out the pots and pan return after you left.
Determined to stop the Vickers Gang, Target was fastidious about incorporating fresh security features into their receipts. But when company officials go to sleep at night, criminals stay up late working on new ways to beat the system. The genius about Santa Claus and the Vickers Gang was their ability to adapt. Within days of a retail chain making alterations in its systems, they would make the appropriate changes in their operations. After all, when they began, there were no UPC codes, just ordinary price stickers. So they counterfeited the price stickers. Stores had manual cash registers. So the Vickers drove around with an NCR cash register in their trunk, and would make their counterfeit receipts on the register. When clerks looked at a receipt when he was returning something, Santa Claus would sometimes joke, “If you don’t like that receipt, I can just get another one from my trunk.” When stores moved to computers, they followed suit. At one point, Target switched to a restricted cash register ribbon that printed in two colors of ink, so that the top half of a number might be black and the bottom half red. The Vickers Gang tried unsuccessfully to buy one of the ribbons, and finally managed to steal one.
The Vickers Gang had a long and prosperous run, and some narrow escapes. Sensing she was being watched, Jodi Vickers once had to peel off a bunch of labels
Similar Books
