Apex Target employee receives chief's coin after preventing gift card scam

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- Target employee Ken Jeffers was working his normal shift at the Apex location in late October when a cashier grabbed his attention.

The cashier had noticed a man attempting to purchase a large amount of money on gift cards. Jeffers spoke to the man and asked if he was purchasing the gift cards for somebody.

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The man identified a person he was on the phone with at the time who claimed to be with the police and federal government.

"The gentleman had showed me his phone and they spoofed Apex Police's phone number when they called," Jeffers told ABC11.

So Jeffers spoke to the criminal on the phone and asked him to meet him and other Target team members at the store to discuss things in person.

The man declined. "He just said that's not what he does, Jeffers added. "He just sits in an office and he won't come himself."

Jeffers told the Target guest he was being scammed. Jeffers told ABC11 the guest shook his hand "about 10 times."

Soon after, Apex Police presented Jeffers with a Chief's Coin for his work in preventing another person from becoming a victim of gift card scam.

"I never expected anything to come of it," said Jeffers. "People that work here, they would do the same thing if they identified it."

Target thanked Jeffers for his actions and sent the following statement:

"We're aware of many common gift card scams, which unfortunately are happening across retail. As we've become aware of these scams, we've communicated about them to our team members and provided resources for our guests, including a website dedicated to helping guests avoid gift card fraud, understand common gift cards scams and have the resources that they need.

Here is the link.

"We're incredibly proud of our Apex team member, Ken, whose quick thinking helped stop a Target guest from becoming another victim of a gift card scam. Our store teams work hard every day to provide great experiences for our guests, which includes keeping them safe and preventing fraud, and we applaud our team member for recognizing and stopping this scam as it was happening."