Connecticut Man Dresses as Contractor, Allegedly Scams Home Depot Out of $300K in High-End Door Con

A Connecticut man was indicted on federal charges last week for allegedly defrauding Home Depot of nearly $300,000.

The U.S. Department of Justice said that Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota took advantage of the home improvement store’s non-receipted return policy dozens of times between June 2021 and February 2022, targeted stores mostly in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Other store locations were in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Maryland.

According to court documents, Costa-Mota would arrive at a store “empty-handed,” dressed as a contractor, pick up expensive doors, and bring them to the store’s customer service department, where he would claim to be returning the door and receive a store credit. He would redeem the store credit at other stores, mostly in Connecticut.

If a store refused to accept the receiptless return, Costa-Mota would leave with the door and try other stores until it was accepted.

Officials say Costa-Mota did that about 370 times, racking up $297,332 in eight states.

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He was indicted in Providence, Rhode Island on July 26 and arraigned on August 1. He is charged with conspiracy and wire fraud.

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