Georgia men arrested for returning 'games' -- Joystiq

Georgia men arrested for returning 'games'

by Randy Nelson { Jun 26th 2009 at 5:00AM }

Like all crime, the meticulous effort three Georgia men put into buying, opening and selling games -- only to return the seemingly unopened boxes for a refund -- didn't pay. Atlanta's Fox 5 News reports that 29-year-old Levar Thornton, 19-year-old Michael Cunningham and 18-year-old Tyrell Myers managed to swap game discs for blank CD-R media using games purchased from 11 area Wal-Mart stores, amounting to 200 returns in all.

Once the retailer eventually got wise to the scam (guess it had enough of customers complaining their "unopened" games contained blank discs), police arrested the trio, who were found with 400 shipping receipts on them. Evidently, they had sold the swiped software via eBay to tune of at least $10,000, according to Wal-mart's estimated losses.

We're not exactly sure what to make of this final detail: The report states that all of the stolen games were for Xbox 360.

[Thanks, User_Name!]

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Tags: crime, georgia, wal-mart

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lustis @ Jun 26th 2009 5:04AM

People need to get real jobs

Monkeydog @ Jun 26th 2009 5:31AM

In this economy?

Schlagwerk @ Jun 26th 2009 7:27AM

A recession doesn't give you license to steal.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jun 26th 2009 7:29AM

no it doesn't but it it sure makes chances greater for it to occur.

pweaner @ Jun 26th 2009 9:34PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHkuHy39eA

Lustis @ Jun 26th 2009 8:36AM

I love Offspring

playwhutyalike @ Jun 26th 2009 8:57AM

There are plenty of jobs out there. Go flip burgers. Go be a gas station clerk. In this economy, you do what it takes to keep your shit you "just needed so bad".

BigD145 @ Jun 26th 2009 12:48PM

There are never "plenty of jobs." I have yet to see a time when unemployment is 0%. I have seen a time when ~7,000 people vie for 1 janitor position and that time was earlier this year.

playwhutyalike @ Jun 26th 2009 1:58PM

Well, I was laid-off from my job in March and have been collecting unemployment while working 12 to 14 hours a week at my friend's liquor store. Note: I am not working under the table, I get a paycheck and have my taxes taken from it and all that shit. I'm still considered unemployed because I have not returned to full time work yet. If I get another part time job and work 12 to 14 hours there, I'm still considered unemployed because I'm not putting in 32 hours a week. As long as I meet the requirements to draw unemployment, part of the statistic.

Businesses with "Now Hiring" signs displayed:liquor stores, gas stations, most fast food, construction, cell phone providers, coffee shops. Pretty much everything except manufacturing.

Monkeydog @ Jun 26th 2009 11:42PM

It was a joke guys.

You also should realize just because where you may live isn't hit as hard as some places, that doesn't mean it isn't hard to find a job elsewhere.

Like where I live, we have one of the highest rates in the country(I think the only place that is higher is down in Southern California or something, California sucks apparently), it's like 20% right now...and there is nooooooobody hiring, more businesses are closing that opening.

Not to mention unemployment rates are usually lower than the actual unemployed people.

So saying I can find work, that's fine for you, but some people couldn't find it even if they tried.

Snowblind @ Jun 26th 2009 5:09AM

Geez.. that's the type of thing you could maybe pull a couple of times, but did they really think they could keep it up with no one catching on?

kmanabe @ Jun 26th 2009 5:21AM

It's totally like halloween, hitting up the same house over and over

alakazam9891 @ Jun 26th 2009 5:23AM

The reason all the games were on Xbox 360 was because Wii gamers don't know the difference between a real game and a blank screen and there are no games on PS3 to scam people out of.

(I KID I KID)

Lustis @ Jun 26th 2009 5:25AM

I see many down votes in your future

arrness @ Jun 26th 2009 5:32AM

more like no one buys wii games online and ps3 uses blu ray

Ashitaka @ Jun 26th 2009 8:33AM

arrness speaks the truth.

Cody @ Jun 26th 2009 8:43AM

"We're not exactly sure what to make of this final detail: The report states that all of the stolen games were for Xbox 360."

I know what to make of it. It's what I say all the time on here. The X Box gamer is that of a different breed. Keep in mind this isn't a blanket statement, there are exceptions.

However, more often than not your 360 gamer is an aggressive, misguided wanna be alpha male in their teens or 20s that didn't have a happy home life or good relations with their family. They are usually involved with the law (such as this case) although not always in a way pertaining to videogames.

Those ignorant pricks you hear on Xbox Live? They are not the exception to the rule, they are the majority.

Vcize @ Jun 26th 2009 10:04AM

How would you know what people are like on XBL?

I'd venture to guess from your posts here that you haven't spent much time there...

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Jun 26th 2009 10:16AM

"How would you know what people are like on XBL?"

To be fair to the gent, there are a bazillion and one posts on the internets regarding such people, but the little time I spent on Home shows the crowd interested in virtual blowjobs and testing the filters are alive and well on PSN. Home is like the ghetto of PSN; in fact, it may be a clever method on Sony's part to give the teabaggin' fun lovers of XBL a place to call...home.

In general though, I'd say the services arrange themselves thus:

PSN: Like Connecticut WASPs we mingle online, but don't really talk. Undesirables tend to flock towards Home.

XBL: Like a southern trailer park, the community is large, outspoken, and crass. And junior better get his bitch ass back with the flag before I team kill that retard.

Wii: Like preschool, the few that interact tend to do so in the "parallel play" pattern observed in such youth.

Alistair Azimuth PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Jun 26th 2009 10:34AM

That was a good one Borland.

BigD145 @ Jun 26th 2009 12:48PM

Wii games are less expensive than either PS3 or 360. Higher prices mean higher profit margins.

TomCo @ Jun 26th 2009 2:09PM

I'm almost certain they didn't psychologically profile their target market before choosing which games to steal.

Sly @ Jun 26th 2009 2:35PM

alakazam, thank you for a great laugh.

Premature ejaculation man @ Jun 26th 2009 6:22AM

I'm surprised they kept evidence of such a practice lying around...

BIGGEN (LIVE-PSN: BIGGEN1103) @ Jun 26th 2009 7:36AM

i'm not. they have to brag about their awesomeness, but also have the evidence to back it up.

Platinum_Skeet @ Jun 26th 2009 2:19PM

Probably because they were running an eBay business off this and would have to keep the shipping receipts for at least 3 months until the transactions that happen after the bid come to a complete halt...

sleepypersons @ Jun 26th 2009 6:44AM

God people at wal-mart are pretty stupid.

ohyeahcola @ Jun 26th 2009 8:02AM

and thats why i quit

Rocketboy @ Jun 26th 2009 8:23AM

You were still qualified to be work there.

squeehunter @ Jun 26th 2009 2:19PM

I think that they just don't care. They work at Wal-Mart.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jun 26th 2009 7:28AM

is that were all those "Game only no case" games on eBay was coming from??? I though those guys were stealing them from Blockbuster or Gamefly....lol

BigD145 @ Jun 26th 2009 12:50PM

Maybe. I know I tend to throw cases away because they just take up too much space. I do keep the covers, inserts, and manuals, though.

Martin @ Jun 26th 2009 7:42AM

Nice flamebait at the end.

playwhutyalike @ Jun 26th 2009 9:05AM

Wal-mart.

I've come across a few open game packages on the shelves at my local store. Both were unsecured titles and left in different departments.

The girlfriend came across a used pregnancy test in the bathroom of the same Super Center. According to one employee, pregnancy tests are stolen and used in the bathroom quite frequently.

cheese @ Jun 26th 2009 9:09AM

Even in this economy, crime is down and this kind of stuff has been going on for years.

This kind of thievery should not be a surprise. I know tons of guys like these that have full time jobs making great money who feel the need to make an extra buck burning movie DVD's and selling them so they can bling out their cars or supplement other stupid habits.

il_duce620 @ Jun 26th 2009 10:09AM

I had this happen to me at a Wal-Mart in St. Louis, MO. I bought a shrink-wrapped copy of "Resistance 2," only to find a blank CD-R in the package.

Alistair Azimuth PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Jun 26th 2009 10:30AM

Didn't Joystiq run a story not that long ago where a kid bought Madden for his new X-Box from a Wal-Mart and it had a CD-R that said "Red Neck S*it" on it?

Can't find the story here on the Stiq but here is A refresher:
http://www.gamegrep.com/news/17623-guy_buys_madden_gets_blanked_cd_with_redneck_st/

I wouldn't be surprised if it were one of the Wal-Marts that had been hit by the three stooges.

oldgamer @ Jun 26th 2009 11:51AM

I think that the penalty should fit the crime.
These bozos should be forced to work at the Wal-mart return / complaint department for as many hours necessary (at minimum wage rates) until the entire 10,000 dollars worth of damage has been paid for. (at gunpoint if necessary)

If that doesn't reform them, I don't know what will.

Obi-Habby @ Jun 26th 2009 12:07PM

Agree on so many levels. When the prison system fails an indentured servitude at Wal-Mart succeeds.

Johnny @ Jun 26th 2009 12:11PM

Of course they were all xbox 360 titles. The other systems don't make money off of their software..... especially PS3!!! Xbox software is big business! ;P This is a comment in reply to all the Fanboy wise ass's out there.

Jonathon @ Jun 26th 2009 2:29PM

Yeah, that almost makes sense if it weren't for that fact that they were getting them for free....so any sale is a profit.

What the general profit margin of a product is doesn't matter when you steal it and re-sell it.

Arkitekt @ Jun 26th 2009 12:41PM

The Moral of the story? If you are going to scam Wal-Mart.. use a fake ID

Lekko @ Jun 26th 2009 1:28PM

wouldn't it be cheaper to use old madden games than blank CD-rs?

Pzychotix @ Jun 26th 2009 1:44PM

Don't they even check the game once before putting it back onto the shelves? I remember that whenever I returned a video game to EBgames (very easy way of "renting" games), they always at least checked to see that the game existed.

Jonathon @ Jun 26th 2009 2:31PM

I'm assuming (I know wal-mart isn't too bright, but I'd hope) that they re-sealed the games before returning them. So the employees would just assume they were un-open and new games.

playwhutyalike @ Jun 26th 2009 2:02PM

Oh, and about that 7000 people for one job thing you rattled off: How many of those people were just filling out an application just to fulfill their duties for an unemployment check? Did this company interview all 7000 people? Run 7000 Background Checks? Do 7000 drug tests? Maybe they were all graduates from the local Janitorial College?

Allright this has been fun, but now I gotta go tend to my lawn, front and back, then grill me a steak later tonight.