All returns are subject to verification system approval. The Home Depot uses a third-party refund verification system. All these retailers allow exchanges or returns for unused or unopened merchandise. In this case, the defendant apparently used his own driver's license once, then used several fraudulent licenses with other names, to conduct the other returns, court records say.Īccording to Home Depot's website, “We require a valid driver’s license or government-issued photo identification for non-receipted returns and returns generated from purchases made with store credits. Home Depot's policy is to allow customers to return items without a receipt, but the home improvement chain has safeguards in place that are supposed to prevent people from taking advantage, including asking for identification that requires third-party verification, according to court documents. Costa-Mota was given about 370 fraudulent store credits between June 2021 and February 2022, prosecutors said. Home Depot stores in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey were involved. If the return was denied, he would take the doors without paying and return them at another store, prosecutors said.

He was given a store credit in the form of cards that he later redeemed at other stores, prosecutors said. He would then load a door or several doors worth hundreds of dollars each onto a lumber cart, take them to the service department and return them without a receipt, authorities said. attorney's office in Providence said in a statement Wednesday.Īn email seeking comment was left with Costa-Mota's attorney.Ĭosta-Mota dressed to appear like a contractor and entered the stores empty-handed, prosecutors allege in court documents. A Connecticut man was given nearly $300,000 in fraudulent Home Depot credit by walking into stores in several states, taking expensive doors and then returning them without a receipt, federal prosecutors allege.Īlexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was detained without bail after a judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf this week in federal court in Rhode Island to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S.

Home depot returns no receipt