Police Are Now Asking Certain Kroger Shoppers to Check "For Fraudulent Charges"
The popular grocery chain has found itself at the center of a troubling new scheme.
There are few feelings worse than looking at a receipt after a shopping trip and realizing that you've been overcharged. Whether simple human error or something more nefarious, customers sometimes paying far more than they owe is an unfortunate reality. In many cases, these issues are taken up by local officials tasked with keeping stores in line, but now, shoppers themselves are being asked to monitor their accounts, as police in one area are flagging a scam targeting Kroger customers. Read on to find out if you need to be on the lookout "for fraudulent charges."
READ THIS NEXT: 5 Warnings to Shoppers From Former Kroger Employees.
Police have issued a fraud alert after several complaints from Kroger customers.
Multiple Kroger shoppers have recently claimed they were fraudulently charged. The Moraine Police Department in Moraine, Ohio, took to Facebook on Dec. 22 to warn about the incidents and issue a fraud alert.
According to the post, the department started getting complaints on Dec. 17 from Kroger customers who had placed online grocery orders for delivery either through the retailer's app or Instacart.
"The complaints alleged fraudulent charges in the range of hundreds of dollars had been charged to their debit and or credit account," the Moraine Police Department wrote.
Best Life reached out to Kroger for comment on the alleged fraudulent charges, but has not yet heard back.
Authorities say they have identified suspects in this scheme.
According to the Moraine Police Department's post, the complaints the department received were for orders that were "subsequently completed" at the Moraine Kroger on Alex Bell Road.
"Our investigation has since revealed some customers received their original grocery order, but were charged for hundreds of dollars of merchandise they did not order or receive," the police wrote. "At least one other customer reported being charged over $600 for merchandise and not a single item was delivered."
The department said it has "identified at least two local suspects responsible" for the fraud complaints. But Moraine police Sgt. Andy Parish told the Dayton Daily News that the suspects have not been arrested or charged yet. Investigators are working to identify additional victims of the scheme before filing charges, according to the newspaper.
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Shoppers in certain areas are being asked to check "for fraudulent charges."
The complaints received by the Moraine Police Department thus far have involved just the one Moraine Kroger store. But according to the authorities, this is not the only location of concern.
Police in Moraine said they have also "discovered thousands of dollars of additional charges" at other Kroger locations in Ohio "which have not been reported to the police." This includes stores in Centerville and Miami Township, the department revealed.
As a result, officers are sending a mass warning to residents in the area. "The Moraine Police Department is asking anyone in southern Montgomery County who has used Kroger's online ordering and delivery service or who placed a Kroger delivery through Instacart in the last two weeks to check their bank or credit card statements for fraudulent charges," the department wrote on Facebook. "If you incurred fraudulent charges from the Moraine Kroger, please call us."
This isn't the first time Kroger's stores have been linked to fraud.
It's not just local residents who should be paying attention to their bank accounts. Similar scams have been connected to other Kroger stores throughout the U.S.
Over in Franklin County, Ohio, the Groveport Police Department confirmed in early December that a woman had scammed roughly 100 people using Instacart, CBS-affiliate WBNS reported. Resident Tammy Rodich told the news outlet she recently ordered groceries through the Kroger app—with her order filled by Instacart—but decided to check her digital receipt and credit card balance after noticing she was missing some items in her delivery.
"It said I had been charged around $870. I didn't buy $870 worth of groceries. I bought $130 worth," Rodich said. "I was furious."
Back in June, Sherina Welch in Houston, Texas, told NBC-affiliate KPRC that she would often order groceries using her Kroger app. But Welch said that changed in May, when she received a notification thanking her for her Kroger order when she hadn't placed one
"Sure enough, there was an order. It was under my name, but a different phone number," she told the news outlet. According to Welch, the order was worth nearly $250 and designated for pick-up at a Kroger store that was roughly 40 miles away from where she lived.
