Man Busted for Video Game Scam

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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A man in Albert Lea, MN was arrested for a video game scam where he would purchase a retail-boxed game from a retailer, replace the original game disc with a blank replica, returned the game for a refund, and then sold the original game disc on eBay. According to the complaint, over almost a one-year period, he made 192 purchases and 183 refunds. From October 2006 to January 2008, he auctioned off 447 video games on eBay for approx. $19,562 USD.

In a police interview, Buchanan allegedly said he opened and removed the video games at his home. He would scan the game, print a label on a disc, place the fake game disc back in the box and repackage the game with a heat-sealing machine, the complaint says.
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If you were going to do something like this why not do it with stuff more expensive then video games. Guy could have made more money doing it with computer software. Then again if he was stupid enough to do this all on 2 credit cards.........
 
computerpro3 said:
If he used cash how would they even catch him?
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They still can get his information to process a return. Besides the stores will start to catch on when they see someone doing nothing buy returns on everything he buys.

I'm guessing thats how they caught him.
 
Yep. Definitely retarded. If you're going to do it and go the trouble of resealing and printing labels and such, why not go the extra step and do the rest right?

1. Pay with cash.
2. Remove legit copy.
3. Create fake disk (print label on blank disk).
4. Insert fake disk and reseal package.
5. Return game using fake contact info (get a fake ID if you have to).

Steps 3 & 4 are entirely optional and probably not necessary since you're sealing the box up anyway. The store clerk isn't going to open it if you've done a good job of sealing and it appears to be in "new" condition. Most places where I've done returns don't bother to verify name and address on a valid ID. They usually just have you fill out a form on return receipt from the register and call it good enough and some places don't even bother to do that.
 
this has happened to me at best buy twice now, once with a hard drive (to match the wait someone put a rusty piece of metal inside an actual antistatic bag for authentisity) and once with a DS game, which i was suspicious about due to a little slit in the box especially due to the previous incident with the hard drive. suffice it to say there was no game inside that time too.

All i know is best buy has a problem with this, since it's happened to me at two different best buy stores in two different states.
 
Oh, and yeah, hitting the same places multiple times is a bonehead move, too. Once or twice per place at most. Doing this 447 times to various area retailers in a little over a year span is obviously going to (or rather, did) attract attention.
 
spincut said:
this has happened to me at best buy twice now, once with a hard drive (to match the wait someone put a rusty piece of metal inside an actual antistatic bag for authentisity) and once with a DS game, which i was suspicious about due to a little slit in the box especially due to the previous incident with the hard drive. suffice it to say there was no game inside that time too.

All i know is best buy has a problem with this, since it's happened to me at two different best buy stores in two different states.
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didnt Best Buy think you were lying when you tried to get a refund because I would.
 
spincut said:
this has happened to me at best buy twice now, once with a hard drive (to match the wait someone put a rusty piece of metal inside an actual antistatic bag for authentisity) and once with a DS game, which i was suspicious about due to a little slit in the box especially due to the previous incident with the hard drive. suffice it to say there was no game inside that time too.

All i know is best buy has a problem with this, since it's happened to me at two different best buy stores in two different states.
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Shitty... Sorry to hear that. Did you get your money back or did they let you exchange the items or did they call you a thief and throw you out?
 
Vipre77 said:
1. Pay with cash.
2. Remove legit copy.
3. Create fake disk (print label on blank disk).
4. Insert fake disk and reseal package.
5. Return game using fake contact info (get a fake ID if you have to).
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Thinking of all the time it would take to do this, plus the cost of gas to drive around, etc etc. why the eff wouldn't you just GET A JOB! Stupid people...
 
Why not make the purchase with a prepaid credit card? Buy from Target. Get a gift reciept and return it for a gift card. Use gift card to purchase another software, and repeat. If you go around enough should be easy, or you could sell gift cards off on ebay and put the money back into the pre-paid credit card.
 
Vipre77 said:
Yep. Definitely retarded. If you're going to do it and go the trouble of resealing and printing labels and such, why not go the extra step and do the rest right?

1. Pay with cash.
2. Remove legit copy.
3. Create fake disk (print label on blank disk).
4. Insert fake disk and reseal package.
5. Return game using fake contact info (get a fake ID if you have to).

Steps 3 & 4 are entirely optional and probably not necessary since you're sealing the box up anyway. The store clerk isn't going to open it if you've done a good job of sealing and it appears to be in "new" condition. Most places where I've done returns don't bother to verify name and address on a valid ID. They usually just have you fill out a form on return receipt from the register and call it good enough and some places don't even bother to do that.
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Hmm... you've really thought this through, haven't you ;)
 
cannondale06 said:
didnt Best Buy think you were lying when you tried to get a refund because I would.
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Thats why its smart to open expensive things right inside of the store, or to go right back immediately. If you wait to the next day or whenever then you can forget it.
 
A month or two ago there was a guy in general mayhem that said he had bought, I believe , a PS3 game and it came with a blank disk. I wonder if it was one of the disks this dude had slipped in.
 
Its funny that everyone is so critical of this guy. Makes you wonder how many others are actually getting away with it doing such simple things like using cash and going to more than two stores...
 
the sad thing is that eBay probably took a few thousand bucks out of that $19,562.... :O
 
People smart enough to figure out how to get away with smething like this are generally smart enough to be able earn money legitimately.
 
i remember working for advance auto parts a few years ago, someone returned wheel bearings and it was close to closing time and the oerson doing the return didnt bother to open the conspiciously grease covered original box the unit came in. did the return which i think was for $90+ bux. next mornin manager was processing returns , and come to find out the box was full of bolts.

i couldnt help but laugh out loud when i was told cause , thankfully it wasnt under my register..
 
Albery Lea, MN such a boring town, my dad and all his siblings grew up there. I'm not surprised he probably had nothing to do, in such a boring town with nothing in it..
 
I've thought about my method a bit more and realized there's another problem with it. The problem lies in the frequency with which this guy was doing this. Even if his execution was perfect and untraceable, if he was doing it enough, surely stores would be getting a lot of complaints from legit buyers who are getting burned. That could lead them to starting a policy of checking every copy that comes back, sealed or not, before processing the return. If they did that and made the guy wait, they could've called the cops/security/whatever while he was there in the store.

But, yeah. I whole-heartedly agree that it'd be easier to make that kind of money legitimately without all the risk. Could probably earn that much slingin' burgers or working at Blockbuster somewhere within the same period of time. Hell, a Blockbuster job would snag you some pay and get you some free rentals if that was part of the motivation behind this guy.
 
I worked for Target for 13 years. Saw this kind of thing all the time. The store loses so much money at the return counter.

People buy a brand new vacuum, then a week later bring in the old falling apart one and scream and yell that it’s the one they just bought.

Steal stuff try to return it.

Take stuff from packages and return it, etc.

The guy got caught because when something is returned as "defective" (by the person who bought it after him) it gets sent back to the manufacturer. They are going to notice a consistent pattern. Notify the stores etc.
 
For software they could start using shrinkwrap that cant be faked at the home. Maybe use shrinkwrap that has holograms on it. Or something that cant be done at home. And if someone tries it will be obvious to the store that it was rewrapped.

Its really up the vendors to make their packaging so once its opened it cant be resealed and look like it wasn't opened. Some vendors already do a good job at this. Some don't.
 
mikey976 said:
i remember working for advance auto parts a few years ago, someone returned wheel bearings and it was close to closing time and the oerson doing the return didnt bother to open the conspiciously grease covered original box the unit came in. did the return which i think was for $90+ bux. next mornin manager was processing returns , and come to find out the box was full of bolts.

i couldnt help but laugh out loud when i was told cause , thankfully it wasnt under my register..
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Now imagine if you actually DID open it up and inspect it...think of the look on the guys face when you say "sir this is just a box of bolts...." I would love to hear the excuse they came up with, haha. Reminds me of a friend that works at a car insurance place in the ghetto part of town, he has the best work stories...
 
Vipre77 said:
I've thought about my method a bit more and realized there's another problem with it. The problem lies in the frequency with which this guy was doing this. Even if his execution was perfect and untraceable, if he was doing it enough, surely stores would be getting a lot of complaints from legit buyers who are getting burned. That could lead them to starting a policy of checking every copy that comes back, sealed or not, before processing the return. If they did that and made the guy wait, they could've called the cops/security/whatever while he was there in the store.
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Yea the thing with that is that if they tried that one they would be opening software meaning they would take a hit returning it if it is legit and two screwing with a lot of people who had legit issues. They wouldn't have been able to narrow it down to him where they could prove it unless the guy is a dumbass.
 
matrix563 said:
hahahah. criminals are not smart obviously ;)
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the ones that are don't get reported cause they don't get caught

seriously, if you are going to run a risk scam, go higher end than this, small time isn't worth the scale. I am all for shady activity, as i think the corporate world more than deserves their share of some return screwing, but seriously... do it with something where you can score hundreds or thousands of dollars per scam.... unless its a no-risk scam.
 
Happened to me at BB too. I bought a game that was in one of those hard protective cases, and the cashier took it out of the case and placed it in the bag. I got home, and someone had made a slit through the shrink wrap just the size of the disc and slipped it out. I wonder if it wasn't a BB employee though since someone had to put it in the plastic hard case.
 
"Buchanan is charged in Mower District Court with three felony counts of theft by swindle"

LOL

He also lost all his PC gear too haha....
 
Sad thing is 2 counts will get dropped and he will pled to one count getting a fine and probally a year probation...

His ebay account will be banned and he will never be allowed into any game store he ripped off..
 
Back in highschool I worked at both Target and Best Buy for about 2 years each. I saw some hilarious scams go down.

Around christmas BB had a mountain of cheap DVD-VCR combos going for like $40. One day we found a car stereo amp box with one of those in it...pretty obvious some guy put a $700 amp in a $40 craptronics box and walked out with the deal of the century.

When I worked at Target our security guy found about 30 empty PC game boxes beneath a shelf. Games that clearly ranged over several years.

It was always fun when people got caught though. I caught some 10 year old hispanic kid stuffing games into his coat. When our security guy pointed it out to the parents it was discovered that they had cd's and dvd's stuffed in their coats too haha.
 
The best part of the whole story is where it says....30 y/o man living with his mother.
 
redman223 said:
Now imagine if you actually DID open it up and inspect it...think of the look on the guys face when you say "sir this is just a box of bolts...." I would love to hear the excuse they came up with, haha. Reminds me of a friend that works at a car insurance place in the ghetto part of town, he has the best work stories...
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Been there, done that.

First, they get pissy and mad, "dont you trust me" when you start to open it. Then it turns into I didnt open it, or thats how you sold it to me.

Then they start getting beligerant, abusive, and threatoning... try to intimadate you into taking the box of bolts back.... even say they will call the police on you.
 
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