If you forget them at the checkout, it’s easy to fall prey to scammers.
I stood in line, paid, folded my purchases, threw out the check, went to the exit. This is usually what the end of a trip to the supermarket looks like. However, experts advise skipping one of the stages. Yes, we’re talking about throwing a check. The fact is that this way you can harm both the store and yourself. And if the store is not very sorry (although the cashier still wants to feel sorry, take the rap for her), then you should take care of yourself. The expert told Wday.ru why the check should be taken with you.
1. This is a document
“It must be remembered that a check is an official document with which you can make any claims on the quality of the goods,” explains our expert. lawyer Ivan Barinov… “Everyone knows perfectly well that a purchase can be safely returned within two weeks if it does not fit in color, shape, size, etc.”.
2. Frame protection…
“Many people forget that when leaving the store, the frames can inadvertently work. In this case, the check is the only salvation to prove the fact of payment. Otherwise, you will have to return everything. Now people are so absorbed in their thoughts and the frantic rhythm of life that they have no time for some pieces of paper that only clog up their pockets, ”the lawyer continues.
And if you do not return it, you will have to prove for a long time and tediously that you nevertheless bought this unfortunate sausage, waste time and wasting nerves.
3. … and an inattentive cashier
Surely this has happened to you too – on the price tag there is one value, in the check – another. Or some product has been punched twice. Or the discount on the action is not taken into account. In case of a discount and confusion with the price tags on the shelves, it is better to photograph the price tag so that the store employees do not have the opportunity to quickly change it – after all, in this case, they are obliged to sell you the goods at the price indicated on the trading floor.
4. Into the hands of scammers
Sometimes, at the exit from the trading floor, people literally pounce on customers and tearfully ask for checks – supposedly to participate in a bonus program for which they themselves do not have enough. In fact, all this is for the sake of banal theft.
“They go to the trading floor and take exactly the same products or things that are pierced from you, – continues the lawyer. – If the security suddenly suspects that something is wrong, then upon presentation of the check, all issues will be quickly resolved. And if you paid in cash, the fraudsters can spoil the goods and indignantly demand compensation – they allegedly bought spoiled, for example, cheese or fish in vacuum packaging. “
Therefore, cashiers often tear a check slightly before handing it to you.
5. Take care of the card
Also, data from payment documents may end up in the hands of so-called cybercriminals. For cashless payments, checks may display the cardholder’s surname and its last four digits. This is enough to find your phone number.
“Then the scammers call, introduce themselves as bank employees and practically force you to give a code word. Although real employees, when confirming their identity by phone, are still interested in the registration address, and not the code word, and even more so not the pin code. And then they just withdraw the money, ”adds Ivan Barinov.