Connecticut Man Accused of Defrauding Home Depot in Elaborate Door-Return Scam

Expensive Door Return Scam Targets Home Depot

A man from Connecticut, Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, has been charged with defrauding Home Depot of nearly $300,000 through a fraudulent scheme involving non-receipted returns of expensive doors. This elaborate scam was executed across multiple states, as Costa-Mota posed as a contractor to obtain Andersen doors and then returned them without receipts to receive store credits. He later redeemed these credits at various Home Depot locations.

The scam spanned over nine months, resulting in 370 store credits worth $297,333. Multiple Home Depot stores in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey were impacted by this fraudulent activity.

While Home Depot allows non-receipted returns, the company incorporates safeguards to prevent misuse. These measures include verification systems and requesting identification. However, Costa-Mota reportedly found a way around these safeguards by using fraudulent identification with fictitious names.

Home Depot’s Organized Retail Crime Investigators collaborated with law enforcement by providing them with surveillance footage, images, and documentation related to the thefts. These pieces of evidence played a crucial role in apprehending Costa-Mota and filing charges against him.