In 2021, Forbes estimated that there is about $100 billion worth of loyalty points across various retailers and businesses that have gone unused, and shoppers are coming up with creative ways to get themselves a piece of the action.
Take this one TikToker who’s discovered a way to finagle Fetch, for example. Fetch is an application that aggregates points from customers who upload their receipts that they can then use to redeem gift cards to various restaurants and stores.
With the number of customers who leave their receipts behind at stores or toss them in the trash, Jazmin (@jzzminisabel) discovered a nifty little trick that only requires a pen and some nail polish that helps her to get Fetch points, even without purchasing anything.
In the clip, she demonstrates how she manipulates a store receipt by changing the date, which she then uploads into the app for points. Those accumulated points are then used for gift cards.
@jzzminisabel it works fr but i might get banned..
♬ Roman Holiday Sped Up – Jadyn
Many TikTokers said they, too, have submitted receipts that don’t belong to them in order to redeem points. “When I worked retail I would scan all receipts I found that customers left, also I tried it with return receipts and it also worked lol,” the top comment on the video read.
“I’m a waitress and I scan all the receipts for my points!” another worker claimed.
However, there were some who said while this hack initially worked, Fetch stopped accepting the receipts that they were submitting after a while. “They got smarter,” a TikToker concluded.
Others claimed that the physical manipulation of receipts wasn’t necessary in order to claim rewards on receipts that haven’t been yet submitted through Fetch—all they do is put a different date through the application and then they’re good to go. “Change the date in the app it never checks mine again it just sends them through,” one suggested.
With inflation in the U.S. hitting a 40-year high in the summer of 2022, and projections that the country will enter into a recession in the third quarter of 2023 heading into 2024, it’s no surprise that shoppers are coming up with thrifty ways in order to earn themselves some extra cash—even if it’s in the form of gift cards.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Fetch via email and Jazmin via TikTok comment.
Update 7:55am CT, Mar. 26, 2023: In an email to the Daily Dot, Fetch’s PR team shared the following statement:
“Fetch is on a mission to help people save money and have fun doing it – especially as inflation continues to squeeze shoppers’ wallets. In that vein, we encourage Fetchers to snap as many receipts from their purchases as possible, up to 35 receipts over a 7-day rolling period, to ensure they’re rewarded for their shopping fair and square. Fetch prohibits any attempts to manipulate or falsify receipts, and any such actions are thoroughly investigated by our fraud detection team.”
