Texas Man Pleads Guilty to ‘Ticket-Switch’ Scam at Home Depot

A 43-year-old man from Texas and Mexico has pleaded guilty to possessing numerous unauthorized access devices to obtain high-end merchandise at Home Depot stores in New York and other states. Luis Alcalar Vasquez, a/k/a Noberto DeRivas, a/k/a Abraham Rivas-Rios, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Between November 2012 and March 2013, Vasquez, using self-checkout stations at various Home Depot stores in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and New York, scanned bar codes for lower ticketed items but took the more expensive items out of the stores. He then returned the higher ticketed merchandise to another Home Depot location in exchange for stored value cards.

The scam, known as a ‘ticket-switch,’ allowed Vasquez to obtain high-end merchandise worth $77,577.90. In one instance, he scanned the bar code for a sink priced at $59.95 but actually left the store with a sink costing $444.79.

On March 7, 2013, Home Depot became aware of the scam and notified the authorities. Vasquez was subsequently arrested at a Home Depot store in Lockport, New York, after attempting to return merchandise valued at $700.55 using a California driver’s license bearing his picture but a different name.

Investigations revealed that Vasquez had 20 false California drivers licenses in three different names but all bearing his picture, and 17 Home Depot stored value cards worth approximately $5,910. Two cell phones with bar codes taped to their backs were also found on the defendant.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and investigators of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour. Sentencing is scheduled for March 4 at 12:30 p.m. before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara.

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