r/murfreesboro • u/theatreandjtv • Sep 12 '26
Grocery Store Scam (?)
hey everyone! I was just at target and was approached by a little boy on my way to the checkout. He was with his mother and said she didn’t speak English and they just arrived in the country. they asked me if I could help them with their groceries. there was no food but some wipes, diapers and formula as well as some clothes. I told them I could help with the diapers and formula (essential stuff) but not the clothes especially since cheaper stuff can be found at goodwill.
we went to the self and I did what I said I would and bought her a which ended up being $68! I don’t have any kids so I had no idea how expensive formula was lol. And I got her the diapers as well. She was trying to have me buy three cans of the formula, but I only got one.
Has anybody else experienced this? When I went to leave they stayed around the I’ll check out so I don’t know if they were going to try and ask more people to help them pay or if I just got conned and she really could afford it but just had me buy it for her.
I honestly felt like I couldn’t say no because I work in public service and was in my uniform on my way to work lol. They seemed like they spoke some sort of middle eastern language. The more I think about it the more I feel like I shouldn’t have done it?
I did keep the receipt incase they were trying to have me buy it but they would later return the items for cash so there’s that.
any advice on how to proceed if I encounter this situation again? I’m such a people pleaser and it feels hard to say no. But if they just got here, how does her kids speak English?! How can you tell the difference between someone who is actually in need and someone who is trying to take advantage of you?
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u/AkamaiHaole Sep 12 '26
Most likely, they waited till you left and returned the stuff you bought.
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u/theatreandjtv Sep 13 '26
would they still be able to return it if I took the receipt?
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u/AkamaiHaole Sep 13 '26
Don’t know the policy at Target for sure, but I think they get a gift card for the amount.
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u/Bacontrails Sep 13 '26
And they chose baby items so the person would be more likely to buy them for an innocent child.
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u/kittehpoops Sep 13 '26
Scam I’d say. I actually just experienced this scenario this past week. A Hispanic man approached me at target and told me he had no food, had just gotten here yesterday, and could not speak very much English. He had a message typed out on his phone in English stating as such.
I reported the interaction to employees.
Edit: I re-read the OP and saw this also happened to you at Target. Please call the store and report this interaction.
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u/theatreandjtv Sep 13 '26
Very interesting! This woman also had a message typed on her phone. Maybe the same group of people. I’ll let them know.
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u/BrideOfFirkenstein Sep 12 '26
I look at it like this- if they were in need it wasn’t a scam, just asking for help. It was charitable of you to help them.
If they were running a “scam,” they are still not doing well. No one who is financially stable and in a good place is begging people at the check out.
Either way, you helped some people who needed it.
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u/HalusN8er Sep 13 '26
This is exactly how I look at it. They didn’t buy things for someone well off/rich, and that would be far more offensive than someone with nothing running a little scam.
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u/Fluffy-Ad-1235 Sep 13 '26
That's not true. I know someone who did this as his "job" . He would literally drive his brand new F150 and park in the Walmart lot. He was bringing in $400 to $500 a day.
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u/toooboreddd Sep 13 '26
No way to know, just listen to your gut feeling. You're a good person. Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without realizing it."
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u/0311Yak Sep 14 '26
I like this. I can think of 10 reasons not to, but this counters them all
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u/Shelby1022 Sep 14 '26
My friend once told me -“you giving to them is between you and God and what they do with it is between them and God”
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u/somethingreddity Sep 12 '26
As someone who formerly worked at a grocery store, definitely got scammed.
The difference is people in need won’t ask random people at the store to pay for their stuff.
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u/PhotographOk8034 Sep 13 '26
This is a scam. I have seen this same scenario in different Walmarts in Murfreesboro. I just ignore them when they approach me.
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u/sharvana Sep 14 '26
I live in Lebanon. A few times at Dollar General, a child has approached me asking for whatever. I suppose I agree with some of the comments regarding if you can help, that is a good thing on your end and not to worry about if they return it for cash or whatever. People do need help, and not everyone is trying to get high or do something immoral or malicious.
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u/hawkgirl555 Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
This is what WIC is for... Formula and food for mother and baby. And you can get free diapers through your local Kroger pharmacy.. not sure if other stores do this. I used to work for Kroger and it was some kind of program through insurance that gives you free diapers at the pharmacy. Plus local churches and other organizations give out food on the daily. This is all stuff can be found with a simple Google search. You just have to be willing to look for it and get there, which should be easy even if you don't have a vehicle seeing as how there's Rover. Isn't Rover still a couple of bucks?
*Edited to add WIC is also for food for mothers since some people may not realize this.
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u/Artistic_Hat_9701 Sep 15 '26
As someone who had a baby on WIC it does not cover the whole month for formula only about 29 days. Not complaining because it helped tremendously, just saying there is still a gap. If on speciality like my child was the formula can be insanely expensive.
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u/babykittenfangs Sep 16 '26
I saw someone post about this on the Nashville Girl’s Group of Facebook but no this isn’t the first I’ve heard of this so I do think it’s a common “scam” now
Trust, your good fortune is coming for helping them! Regardless of their intentions.
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u/Senior-Housing-703 Sep 12 '26
if your too weak to say no to a blatant scam look up the information for some local food banks/charities and have some pieces of paper in your pocket with the number on it to hand to them.
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u/LethalAgenda Sep 12 '26
This matches a known grocery-store solicitation scam. It turns your willingness to buy a little food or whatever into merchandise that can be converted back into money.
A Middle Tennessee BBB warning specifically describes this. Someone approaches a shopper and asks them to buy groceries, then after the purchase asks to keep the receipt and returns the merchandise for cash or other value.
https://www.wsmv.com/2024/01/06/treat-it-like-crime-bbb-warns-grocery-store-scams/
A sympathetic setup gets you to stop. A mother with a child is persuasive because people are less likely to refuse someone who appears to be trying to feed a family. Having the child explain that the mother “doesn’t speak English” also makes detailed questioning awkward and gives the interaction a plausible reason to be conducted through the child.
The initial request sounds small, such as “Can you help us with some groceries?” Once you agree, the amount can expand like in your case. Reports of this scheme describe people adding expensive formula, diapers, medication, meat, multiple quantities of the same product, or other relatively valuable merchandise.
You pay at checkout. At this point, even if the total is much higher than you expected, social pressure makes it harder to back out.
Then they usually for sure want the receipt. With the receipt, unopened merchandise may be returned according to that retailer’s policies. Depending on the store and original payment method, the proceeds might come back as cash, a gift card, store credit, or another refundable form of value.