JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man says a simple trip to Walgreens to buy a prepaid Green Dot card cost him $500, and a lot of trust.
Jasmine Waters says he bought the $500 prepaid card at the Walgreens on 8th Street last week to pay off some driving tickets. But before he even left the parking lot, he says his money was already gone.
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“When I went to register the card, they said it was already registered,” Waters told Action News Jax.
In someone else’s name.
Waters says he was stunned and angry when he realized the card he’d just paid cash for had already been activated.
“It made me mad. It made me upset,” he said. “I’m not fixing to just walk away from my money like that.”
Waters says he immediately went back to the store and spoke to management. That’s when, according to him, a Walgreens employee admitted it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
“Another Walgreens manager said this isn’t the first time this happened. It’s happened before in the past,” Waters recalled.
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He filed a police report and contacted both Walgreens and Green Dot Corporation’s fraud department.
“I work hard to support my son. I don’t got money to just be blowing up in smoke like that,” he said.
Waters says he sent proof of purchase and the card’s serial number, as Green Dot instructed. But so far, he says he’s still waiting for a resolution.
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Action News Jax has previously reported on scams involving prepaid Green Dot cards — but we haven’t found any recent local cases like Waters’.
Green Dot’s customer service website advises consumers to contact their support department immediately and provide a receipt and proof of purchase if a prepaid card appears to have been previously registered.
Waters said he did exactly that, and now, he just wants his $500 back.
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