Unlike some retailers, returning items like tools to Home Depot is usually a fairly straightforward process. However, that process can be abused by scammers looking to capitalize on the chain’s policies, with one scammer being recently sentenced for running a scheme that saw her receive $266,699 in fraudulent store credit. According to a social media post by the Medina Township Police Departmentthe scammer targeted a string of Home Depot locations across her home state of Ohio, as well as some in Kentucky. She reportedly conducted more than 1,700 fraudulent transactions in total.

Using a variety of fake names and IDs, the scammer, Tracy A. James, obtained store credit that she then used to buy merchandise. She then resold the merchandise online. According to the department, she had been running the scheme since 2018. Prosecutors charged James with one count of telecommunications fraud, which is a second-degree felony.

After pleading guilty in court, James was sentenced to 180 days in county jail, 100 hours of community service, and five years of community control supervision. She also has to repay Home Depot $266,699 that she obtained from the scheme. James allegedly had an accomplice in the scheme, April Mathis, who turned herself in on March 5th. At the time of writing, Mathis has been placed on house arrest and has a trial set for June 1st.

Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer, complete with its own range of tool and supply brands, and so it shouldn’t be too surprising that James isn’t the first scammer to target the chain. She isn’t the only one to commit fraudulent returns either, like Connecticut resident Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, who was charged in 2023 after prosecutors said he defrauded Home Depot out of almost $300,000.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Costa-Mota went to various branches of Home Depot dressed as a contractor, loaded up a cart with doors, then took them straight to the branch’s service department to attempt to return them. If the branch accepted the return without a receipt, he received store credit, and if it did not accept the return, he walked out with the doors and would attempt to return them at other branches until he was successful.

Costa-Mota pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud, and in 2024, he was sentenced to time served plus three years of supervised release. Like James, he was also ordered to repay Home Depot for the credit he had obtained from the scheme. While Home Depot has some changes coming in 2026, the chain’s vigilance when it comes to watching out for scammers is unlikely to change anytime soon.