OCALA, Fla. – A Central Florida man who ignored what he thought were junk shipping emails said boxes began showing up at his Ocala home - and he soon discovered about $1,200 in credit card charges for items he says he never ordered.
Eric Anderson told News 6 he got the first email from Walmart in early April.
“I said, ‘Oh, this is just a junk email, nothing’s going to come,’” Anderson said.
Then, the packages arrived, including duplicate car vacuums, three of the same shower curtains, three of the same women’s sweaters and two sets of toy cars.
“I have no use for any of these,” Anderson stated.
Anderson also said he was expecting a large box containing a mobility scooter he believed cost about $400, but instead found a small phone holder.
“I expect to go out and see a box this big. There’s a phone holder,” he explained.
According to Anderson, the purchases were made through his Walmart account and charged to credit cards linked to it. He reported the orders as fraudulent to Walmart and to his credit card companies immediately. In letters Anderson provided to News 6, both card companies, Bank of America and Capital One, initially sent letters stating they were investigating the charges.
A little more than a week later, both card companies sent Anderson another letter stating he was on the hook for the charges.
“After researching your case, we found insufficient evidence of fraud because information we discovered leads us to believe you or another account user benefited from the transactions,” Capital One stated in its letter.
Meantime, Bank of America told Anderson in its letter, “We made this decision because we confirmed the merchandise was shipped or services(s) was provided to an address listed on your account.”
Anderson called the situation frustrating, “The system didn’t work for me. I reached out to my credit card company, immediately, which is what you’re told to do in cases of fraud.”
Anderson told News 6 his Walmart account had been compromised and that Walmart confirmed to him that it was hacked. He said his account was suspended, preventing him from printing receipts to return the items, and he claimed repeated calls to Walmart left him getting “the runaround.”
“I actually got frustrated. I kind of gave up on it,” he said.
After News 6 contacted Walmart, the company reached out to Anderson. They marked the purchases as fraudulent and provided return shipping labels to Anderson. He said he shipped the items back and received a refund.
“I wanted to let you know that after several weeks and much correspondence with Teresa from Walmart, they finally refunded all of the money back to my credit cards,” Anderson wrote in an email to News 6, “I know this would not have happened without your involvement.”
Walmart’s website advises customers who see unauthorized charges to contact their bank or credit card company immediately. The retailer also recommends resetting passwords and deleting any saved payment information.