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WEST BOUNTIFUL, Utah (AP) -- A man who purchased video games and then returned them to the stores with blank CDs substituted was caught because he tried the scam for too long and too many times, police said.
West Bountiful Detective James Sheldon said retail store employees along the Wasatch Front had been watching for the con man, who would take the recently purchased games to his hotel room, unwrap them, pull out the CD, insert a blank one, rewrap the game -- including shrink wrap -- and return it to the store. The man would then sell the original CD on eBay.
Employees at a ShopKo in West Bountiful called police Friday after the man tried to collect refunds for two games.
The man, who is on probation from Idaho for similar scams, was booked for investigation of burglary, communications fraud, theft, identity fraud and giving false personal information to an officer.
Sheldon said the man deposited nearly $7,000 in one week in his checking account.
"This is a pretty good scheme," he said. "He just got greedy."
If the man had limited his activities in Utah to one week's worth of shopping, he probably would not have been caught, Sheldon said. But the man has been in the area for several weeks.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
