Asda worker spots scam and saves elderly Fife customer from £800 loss

Emma Baillie, who works at Asda in Glenrothes, reacted after finding out the story behind the purchase.

She said: “We got checkout training when I joined, and part of it taught us about fraudulent transactions and what to look out for to spot scams. The gentleman arrived at the checkout with a stack of gift vouchers for Amazon, and I just knew straight away something seemed off. I asked him what he was purchasing them for, and he explained he had been emailed by Amazon to say he’d won a trip for £800. He was instructed to purchase the gift vouchers and then send all the codes back to the email to redeem his trip.”

Quick-thinking Emma was able to identify this as an email scam, and advised him not to purchase the vouchers.

She continued: “He had his phone, so I asked if I could see the email and I was able to check the details of the sender. It became clear that it wasn’t a legitimate email. He thankfully understood and was really thankful that I warned him before he went through with it.”

Emma reported the scam to try to prevent any further fraud.

Debbie Wilson, Asda Glenrothes community champion, said: “Emma was so great with this older gentleman, guiding him through the situation with such care. She saved him a small fortune by thinking on her feet, and reported the scam to prevent others falling for it.“