A woman used a receipt she found to scam a local Wal-Mart.
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office posted surveillance images taken inside the store off of Kings Highway in Port Charlotte to their Facebook page. Deputies want the community's help to identify the woman.
"The woman walked into the Wal-Mart with a receipt she found either in a shopping cart, on the ground or in the trash," said Skip Conroy, a spokesperson with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. "Then she found the selected items on the receipt and brought them to the return counter," he added.
The woman in the images then passed off the items she gathered as her own in return for cash.
Some Wal-Mart shoppers were troubled she didn't seem to care about the surveillance cameras inside the store.
"I noticed the cameras today, so I'm kinda surprised," said Debbie Walsh, as she loaded up her car. "People are desperate or maybe they haven't been caught before so they just keep on going until they do," she added.
The return scammer took advantage of swamped employees who had to deal with other other holiday returns.
"This is a busy time of year for returns so this mistake was easily made," said Conroy. "It's our job to educate the merchants to be aware of this," he added.
4 In Your Corner reached out to Wal-Mart's corporate office for how they fight return fraud.
A spokesperson says they are on the lookout for new ways scammers try to cheat the system in order to try and catch them.
If the woman is found she faces fraud and larceny charges.
