Two North Carolina store employees are accused of repeatedly using a fraudulent mobile coupon in hundreds of transactions, costing their employer more than $25,000 before the activity was discovered.
Heather Haskins, 37, of Littleton, became the second employee arrested in the investigation after deputies say she conducted 587 transactions responsible for $22,926 in losses.
Her arrest followed that of 18-year-old Shauniyah Robinson of Roanoke Rapids, who investigators accuse of conducting another 67 transactions worth $2,388.50.
Together, the two employees are accused of using the coupon 654 times and causing $25,314.50 in losses at a Speedway on West Tenth Street in Roanoke Rapids, according to WCTI and other local reporting.
The Company’s Fraud Department Reported the Transactions
The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office became involved March 25 after deputies responded to the West Tenth Street business following a report from the company’s fraud department.
Investigators were told that two employees had allegedly been using a fraudulent mobile coupon while making purchases. The activity took place during January and February.
WITN identified the business as Speedway. Authorities have not publicly explained how the coupon was created or manipulated, what discount it produced during individual transactions or how the company’s fraud system initially detected the pattern.
Haskins and Robinson Were Arrested
Detective Sgt. I. Miller arrested Haskins on Aug. 21 and charged her with obtaining property by false pretense. RRSpin reported that Haskins posted a $1,500 secured bond. Her district court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 9.
Robinson was arrested Aug. 14 on the same charge of obtaining property by false pretense. According to earlier RRSpin reporting, Robinson posted a $5,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in district court Aug. 26. The charges against both women remain accusations and have not resulted in findings of guilt.
Repeated Coupon Use Can Be Detected Through Transaction Patterns
For retailers, repeated discounts tied to the same employee, register or coupon can provide a measurable warning sign even when individual transactions are relatively small. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has described point-of-sale fraud investigations in which unusually high rates of discounts or complimentary transactions became visible after an employee’s activity was compared with that of coworkers performing similar jobs.
Retailers can review coupon and discount usage by employee ID, register, store and time period rather than examining only the company’s total discount expense. Repeated use of the same promotion, unusually high discount rates or activity far outside the patterns of comparable employees can then be flagged for review.
Controls can also limit who may override prices or apply exceptional discounts and require employees to use individual POS credentials rather than shared logins. When suspicious activity is detected, businesses should preserve transaction histories, register records, surveillance footage and the digital information associated with the coupon before those records are overwritten or lost.