Police arrested a Burlington Coat Factory store worker for duping people out of money.
They thought they were buying loaded gift cards, but police said Devona Smith, an employee, was loading gift cards for herself and giving customers empty cards.
“I’d be very upset if that happened to me,” shopper Ken Marshall said.
Marshall said he does not trust store cards or the employees.
Shopper Jasmin Brathwait said it is discouraging.
“People are scrounging for money so they're going to do whatever type of scheme they can do which, that's not cool,” Brathwait said.
In this case, Gwinnett County police said Devona Smith, of Lawrenceville, who worked at the Burlington Coat Factory on Sugarloaf Parkway, was stealing by deceiving.
“The cards that she was giving to the customer were loaded with no money. She was instead loading the dollar amount, that store credit onto a gift card for herself,” Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Michele Pihera said.
There were nine separate incidents at the store, where police said Smith racked up about $500 worth of credit that police said she was using for personal purchases.
“I go there. They have great things there,” shopper Yamily Mijes said.
Mijes said she tends to stay away from loading money onto or giving gift cards whenever possible.
“Stick to the good birthday card. Twenty dollars inside and you're good to go,” Mijes said.
Police said also make sure you always get a receipt of the transaction and call the phone number that's on the back of the card and verify that that money has been loaded
WSBTV
