To add insult to injury, if the theif gets caught, society will have to pay $45,000 per year to put the thief in prison.

What is wrong with what Singapore does? They cain people or whip them. The person who did this deserves to be whipped, not put in prison at societies expense.

yes there is something wrong - that is why it's called CRIME.
Have they caught the thief yet? They were caught on camera, yes?

It just shows what an antiquated, fraud prone system a check is. It's like carrying all your cash with you at once, except you have to go through the time consuming ID hassle at the point of sale, and that process, clumsy as it is, doesn't prevent the thief from doing same.

Let's not condemn the retailer for having a policy that protects against fraud. Without an ID, how was Walmart to know that this woman was not the thief? After all, isn't that the very thing that this woman's friend was a victim of? Wouldn't she have appreciated it, if other retailers had been as vigilent as Walmart, when the thief used the stolen credit cards or checkbook to make purchases?

One thing that is being forgotten about this incident, is that cash registers are set up, that when they ask for I.D. and none is produced, then the purchase cannot be made. The clerk had no way of overriding the cash register.

Don't blame Walmart or the clerk. Next time, watch out for your wallet.

Kewn,
that is true, But the MANAGER has the right to override the ID request.

Which he refused to do, add to that when this lady talked to the GM of the store, he told her the Manager should have simply overode the system and let write the check.

Everyone seems to think Walmart is this great store and had the right to refuse the write checks. Corporate Headquarters of Walmart writes off millions of dollars a year for bad checks (usually small amounts on the check). So what if this turned out to be bad? The PR is going to hurt thier business worse than the $100 of groceries.

I for one will not be shopping at Walmart for the simple reason of Customer Service and the way they treated this lady.

There is no reason for it!

I just want to clear up one detail of my letter. The thief left WalMart immediately and went to other locations to use my friend's bank account. So WalMart wasn't the one letting the thief use the account. I am complaining about my friend not being able to use her check because WalMart almost never asks for ID. I once lost my check book, I stopped my account at the bank immediately. Because WalMart always accepts my checks with no ID I went there to have them put it in the computer system to ask for ID if any check from my account went through. I was told they couldn't do that. Asking for ID should be a standard process, I wish it was at all businesses. We're unhappy because the only time she has been asked for ID is when her ID has been stolen. If it was standard procedure to ask for ID each we wouldn't have a problem. Someone asked how WalMart was suppose to know she wasn't the one who stole the wallet. For one thing she was the one reporting the theft and she was standing there with the police and crying.

The theif is the criminal here is but he had some accomplices with the businesses that cashed the checks he wrote without proper identification. The possession of a checkbook doesn't mean that person owns that checkbook/account.

The businesses who cashed the checks should stand the loss.

Wal-Mart the Friendly Family Store. Not!

Of all the fraud cases we see at the financial institution I work at, around 50% involve Walmart. Its gotten to the point that an out of state walmart charge is a huge red flag on someones account.

They may ID for checks, but they dont for credit cards or debit cards. Why? My guess is because debit/credit fraud is between you and Visa/Mastercard, its not their problem. They got their money, they could care less.

unless my understanding of the electronic funds transfer act is faulty, if the victim had notified her bank immediately after discovering that her wallet was stolen, she would have reduced her exposure to $50. Then the store that let the thief use her card with out ID would have had the charge put back to them, and they would have suffered the loss.

If your debit or credit card is lost or stolen, notify you financial institution immediately.

never ever let your handbag or wallet out of your direct control. Use a handbag with a long strap and put it over your shoulder or across your body if the strap is long enough. I shudder when I see women leave their handbags in the child seat of a cart and walk away from it. And if your handbag is too big to carry comfortably, maybe you should see what unnecessary items you are carrying and downsize. I did and it is wonderful. My shoulders don't get as tired carrying a lot of unnecessary weight and I don't need six pens. All I really need to carry (and haven't been able to convince myself that it is necessary) is my drivers license and my debit card and maybe a credit card. I seldom write checks any more because here in California they scan them in and take the money immediately so a debit card is more logical than a check book.

of a theft. Although I cancelled my accounts immediately, the thief was still able to make $400 in credit card purchases before it was in the system, as well as an ongoing escapade of check writing of around $900. None of the businesses asked for ID, and didn't know they were accepting a bad check until the bank refused it.

The slip up for the thief came when he ordered pizza for home delivery and called back demanding his free bottle of soda because they had taken longer than 1/2 hour to deliver. In pulling the check, etc., they discovered it was the second purchase he made, called me to ask about it and the police went over and arrested him -- not for using my checks, but on outstanding warrants.

Since that time I always mention checking ID if clerks don't ask if I use a check. In cases like this, I found the police don't do much to track them, and the business ends up eating the loss.

Although I feel sorry for the woman, I totally understand the store's stand. The original story stated the woman didn't call police until WalMart wouldn't take her check.

A few rules that can be learned from this story...

RULE 1:

As soon as you learn your wallet or purse is stolen, you call the banks first, then the credit reporting agencies, then the police.

Seriously, she knows her purse was stolen, and she's more worried about driving home to get another checkbook to complete the grocery sale than she is about letting the bank know to freeze her accounts?

RULE 2:

Don't carry checks around with you except just the one or two you're going to use on that trip.

RULE 3:

Don't use checks at all if you can avoid them. I know, it's almost the same as Rule 2, but it's that important.

RULE 4:

Don't ever shop at Wal-Mart. Ever.