A Walmart shopper was stunned to see a large order at her door. While attempting to access her Walmart.com account, she says she learned that someone hacked into it. What’s more is that they changed the account’s email address, meaning she could no longer log in, she says.
Elizabeth Cho (@hannellcc) documented what the large order consisted of in a viral TikTok. The video now has over 35,000 views. She also expresses her confusion as to what the scammers were trying to accomplish with the con since they didn’t receive the goods. Numerous commenters had theories as to why this was the case.
A big order
“Someone ordered $775 worth of Walmart.com stuff to our apartment,” Elizabeth says at the top of the video.
She indicates her confusion in a text overlay of her video, writing, “What is this new scam? I don’t get it.”
Next, she shows off all of the products that were sent to her home on her dime. There are bottles of what appear to be detergents and shampoo, along with over-the-counter medication. “It’s 60 items. It says in the confirmation email, and then they changed the password to the account,” she says. (She clarifies the password to the account wasn’t changed; the email address was.)
That means she can’t access her account to revert her settings.
So, what can she do?
Instead, she’ll have to cancel the credit cards that are linked with her account immediately. This way, whoever managed to get access to her account can no longer place orders on her dime.
Since her email was changed, Elizabeth says that Walmart informed her that she wouldn’t be able to return anything in the order. “Even though we have the order number?” she questions.
Contents of a scam order
Many of the products were expensive items. “Let me just show you some of the stuff that they got. So random. Formula. Stool softener, I think like three of these, actually,” she says, holding up two separate boxes of Dulcolax. (She clarifies that the third box was actually a skin hydration product.)
“And then this,” she says, holding up a box of blonde hair dye.
“Why?” she asks, looking into the camera.
The other beauty products include a massive bottle of Dove Vitality Renewal Body Wash. “I didn’t know Dove sold stuff like this. This looks new to me,” she says of the product.
She then pulls out a massive tub of lotion from one of the bags. It’s a Raw Sugar product.
“Can we talk about how big this is? It’s 40 ounces. There’s three of these. OK, this—I’ve never seen this brand,” she says.
Elizabeth then holds up a large bottle of Soapbox Vanilla Bean + Fig restoring Body Wash to the camera. “OK this—I’ve never seen this brand. Soapbox. It’s body wash I’ve never heard of it. There’s three of these,” she says.
Detergent for days
Elizabeth says that the order also consisted of numerous bottles of Febreze laundry detergent as well as Tide pens. “But the most thing that we have is… laundry detergent. I think there’s like five things of laundry detergent,” she says.
“Like, I get it’s a scam, but why did it come to our apartment? And why was it charged on our card?” she asks viewers.
Helpful tips
Commenters offered some helpful tips.
“Hi. I work Walmart service desk. Yes you can return it. take it to your nearest Walmart. Tell them what happened and give them your order # and items. I have done this many times for people,” one commenter shared.
“They probably meant to send it to themselves but didn’t change the address. At the very least lock your card,” another said.
Others also speculated that this was the case.
“Do you think someone hacked your account, ordered the stuff. But then forgot to change the delivery address? That’s the only thing I can think of,” another said.
Others assumed someone was doing a “test run” with Elizabeth’s card before moving onto larger purchases. “I think they’re testing the card and want it to make it look like it’s you using it when they sneak in other stuff like travel etc. Something similar happened to me about 10 years ago,” one said.
@hannellcc Waiting on chase to work their magic #walmart #chase #hacked #scam ♬ original sound – Elizabeth
Common scam?
One Reddit user posted to the site’s r/scams subreddit delineating an experience similar to Elizabeth’s. According to them, someone got a hold of their Walmart account information and ordered a random assortment of items. Like Elizabeth’s order, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for the assortment. “It’s a mix of random items with quantities ranging from 3-5: nasal strips. Wound spray, fabric softener, Vagisil, graham crackers, etc,” they shared.
They were confused as to how the scam works, and one person was quick to offer up their input. They echoed the theory that this was a “test run.” “It’s not the stuff they wanted- it’s the payment info. If they buy stuff, and it goes through just fine, then they know the payment info is legit,” they wrote.
Several other Redditors urged folks who use platforms that store their payment information to enable dual-factor authentication. This way, in order for an order to go through, a confirmation text must be enacted first.
If you believe you may be a victim of fraud, immediately access your account and change your password. Next, enable two-factor authentication. Contact Walmart and report the incident. And if you feel your card information may have been compromised, request new cards from your financial institutions.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Walmart and Elizabeth via email for further comment.
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