Office Depot changes limit before AML form pops up and how they got scammed

Introduction

I went to my OD this weekend and bought some gift cards like normal.  However, after every GC was scanned, I noticed a popup message and a beep.  After a few of these, I asked if that was new, and the cashier confirmed it was.  I then read the popup and it said something like, “Notice – corporate will never call stores to activate gift cards.”  He said that it beeps and has a popup after every GC now because one of their stores got scammed.  Apparently someone pretended to be from corporate had called a store to activate some gift cards.  The store then did it, and the store lost about $1,500.  That’s some next level scam if you think about it.  But now, we all have to pay for it by having the annoying beep after every gift card (VGC or Amazon even.)

New limit

Prior to July, you were able to buy $2,000 face of gift cards without the AML form popping up and the store having to type in your driver’s license.  Well it seems that threshold has been lowered to $1,000 now.  You can buy 5 x $200 cards just fine, but as soon as the 6th one is scanned, the form will pop up on the screen.  I’m not sure if the actual daily limit has changed or not, but now if you want to avoid having the cashier type in your info, you’ll want to stick to $1,000 or lower face value of gift cards per transaction.